Demon Control
by DevilHunterSSS
Summary: I don't consider this a fanfic but more like something born from the inspiration from one of my favorite games. Dante is in it but not really a main character. I'm really passionate about this project and will be adding the other 10 chapters I already have done real soon. I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Introduction**

Demons have always resided among Man. Demons ruled the Earth from the darkest crevasses of the world, though; these Demons had no order, and knew only chaos. Until one day, a great and powerful Demon named Ragnarok opened his eyes and saw the destruction and disorder around him. He then began to rule all Demons and bring about order, gaining their influence. By doing so he separated his power into four different elements: Fire, Water, Lightning, and Wind. In order to do this, Ragnarok gave his power to four humans so that there would be peace between Man and Demon. These men were taught to use the elements by Ragnarok's teachings and they became the Guardians of Fire, Water, Lightning, and Wind. When their training was complete, these humans became the new Demon Gods. They would control the four different dimensions of the Demon Realm, also known as Eden by Men's terms. Religion was created amongst Man to worship the Demon Gods. Though, Ragnarok's brother, the Demon God of Darkness named Bahamut wanted to control all elements. With the influence of the Demons, Bahamut declared war between Man and Demon. This fight lasted throughout generations until one final battle between the Demon Gods, Ragnarok, and Bahamut, Ragnarok sacrificed himself to banish Bahamut and in his last words he asked his disciples to seek out Guardians of their own, for one day their power will grow weak. Ragnarok's sacrifice to banish Bahamut temporarily ended the war, though before he was sucked into the void, he swore that one day he would return and envelope the world in darkness. Over time, the Demon Gods realized that their power was growing weak. So they searched the Earth for humans worthy to become Guardians who would one day become Gods and completely destroy Bahamut and end his reign of evil. After a year of searching, they found children with the characteristics of becoming great leaders and heroes and bestowed upon those children the Demonic powers of the elements. Generations have past along with generations of Gods and Guardians, watching over the seal keeping Bahamut at rest. The year is now 3163. Man has grown powerful in the industrial era and technology has come to thrive.

In an attempt to eradicate a Demon infestation, a city was abandoned after a large outbreak of Demons could not be contained by the Demon hunting organization called Demon Control. An evacuation was ordered for all remaining survivors. Since then, my colleagues and I have been hunting down the source of the mass of Demons that have been spawning everywhere. We have only one lead. We have been searching and believe to have found a data pad containing information about them… inside that very city that was abandoned.

 **Chapter 1: Extraction**

It's raining, no, pouring. I and four other soldiers begin to move into the abandoned Demon Control headquarters that was lost in the outbreak. Assault Rifles at the ready, we move in. It's dark with the exception of the light given from the lightning seeping in through the shattered windows and cracked walls.

"Scarlet, can you give us some light?" A Pixie with scarlet colored hair and a lovely red dress fluttered out of my raincoat pocket. She had beautiful red eyes that would sparkle in the light. She gave off a brilliant red light that made the red, ember-like markings on the right side of my face glisten. The light brightened up the whole room. It was a circular lobby with six columns spread evenly in a circle. There was a desk that was flipped over. Papers and files were scattered around the floor. There was a set of double-doors that were half open with a flickering electric sign above the opening that read _Library_.

I led the team across the room to the double-doors. I signaled one of the soldiers to kick them open. Once they were open, Scarlet glided into the room so that we could see.

We moved into the room and froze. In the dead center of the room was a Crawler; a Demon with six eyes and a mouth that opened a full foot. Even though they have two arms and legs, they crawl on all fours.

The Crawler was chewing what was left off of a skull when it saw us. It then dropped the skull and opened its mouth and let out a loud screech. My men readied their rifles and one took a shot. The bullet entered the mouth mid-screech and exited out the back of the Crawler's throat. I drew my two pistols when we heard an even louder screech as if there were a lot of other Crawlers… and there were.

All of a sudden, Crawlers started flowing out of giant holes in the walls like water, black, hairy, water.

"Open fire!" I called out. All of my men began firing at the swarms of Crawlers that were now flooding the huge room.

I began firing my pistols, each shot leaving a hole the size of a baseball.

I put two fingers on my earpiece and yelled, "We need back-up". In about two minutes, I heard helicopters outside. Then the doors we came in from blew open and out of the smoke ran Matthew, my team's number two, along with fifteen other soldiers. The troopers opened fire on a group of Crawlers and Matthew drew his katana. He then began swinging away at Crawlers as they leaped at him, cutting them to pieces.

We were taking out Crawlers by the dozen but they just kept coming and we were running out of ammo. "Clear a path, we need to find the package and get out of here!" I yelled. Matthew agreed and he signaled to his men to fire in one direction towards a doorway with a sign above it that read 'To Library'. Once inside we barricaded the door so the Crawlers couldn't get in, but it wasn't going to hold for very long.

"Spread out! Search for the data-pad!" Everybody then went to different sections of the room including the upper levels of the Library, searching.

"This has to be it!" called one of our men. I went over to him, took it, and then turned it on. Surprisingly it still worked. I checked the ID code on the back and sure enough, we found what we were looking for.

"Alright, we found it! Everyone regroup!" We all grouped up on the lower level to plan our escape

"So, how are we going to get out of here?" asked Matthew.

"Well, that door is the only way in or out." said one of the men.

"What about the staircase in the back? We could climb to the next floor then rappel down to the streets." said another.

"Let's just wait a sec." I said, "Let me call in and find our extraction point." I then put two fingers on my earpiece then said, "Hawk-Eye 429, this is Foxtrot 237. We have the package and are ready for pickup."

A voice then replied over the earpiece, "Roger 237 this is Hawk-Eye 429, there seems to be an abandoned radio tower about half a click north-east of your position. Pick-up is in 15 minutes, I suggest you move out A.S.A.P."

"Confirmed 429, well signal you via green smoke, 237 over and out." I then turned my attention back to Matt and the other soldiers. "Okay, let's get to that staircase."

We moved to the upper level of the Library and found a door with an Emergency Exit sign and opened the door. Once we reached the second floor, Scarlet illuminated the room so we could maneuver around all the chairs and desks that were knocked over. We went over to the window and got out our climbing gear. It was then when we heard the loud bang from the door that had been barricaded to hold off the Crawlers. They had just broken through.

We secured the lines and rappelled down to the streets and then started a full-on sprint due northeast. Within three minutes we saw the radio tower and moved inside and headed for the staircase where we began our slow ascension to the roof with a countless army of Crawlers right behind us. We reached the roof in six minutes. We then lit a green flare to signal the helicopter.

Then, as if on cue, Crawlers began to come from the doorway we had just come out of and up from the walls where they had climbed up the tower. The Hawk-Eye came into view and quickly landed on the roof. All of a sudden there was a loud crash and a ferocious roar. I ran over to where it was heard from and looked over the edge of the roof to see a Red Crawler: a Crawler with skin blood red and twice the size of an average Crawler. It was climbing up the side of the building. I backed away as it got closer and began running toward the chopper. I was then cut-off when the Red Crawler leaped into the air and landed in front of me.

Matthew drew his katana and ran towards the Demon only to be knocked away by its humongous arm. He hit the ground and fell unconscious. A couple of soldiers picked him up and dragged him to the Hawk-Eye and the side doors of the helicopter opened up. The men were greeted by a Demon Control Special Operative, Ashley, who helped them carry Matthew to a bed towards the back of the helicopter. She then looked out to the battlefield and reached to her left and grabbed and assault rifle and began to open fire on the Crawlers. Slowly the other soldiers made their way to the chopper focusing their fire on the Demons that were attempting to overrun the rooftop.

I drew Sin, one of my broadswords, and prepared to defend myself from any attack that the Red Crawler might try to inflict. Scarlet flew out of my pocket, over to the Red Crawler and attempted to hit it in the head. Irritated, the Red Crawler swung its arm out attempting to strike Scarlet but she was too fast and evaded the attack. The Red Crawler missed and instead struck Sin out of my hand and cut my right arm. Noticing that my guard was down I tried to recover by drawing my other broadsword, Punishment, but was interrupted when the Red Crawler lunged its claws out and stabbed my left shoulder.

The pain was excruciating, I couldn't breathe. I finally coughed up some blood and gasped for air with blood drooling from my lips, joining the blood that dripped from my raincoat that flowed from the wound in my shoulder. The pain then got worse when the Red Crawler lifted me off the ground two feet into the air. I heard a scream from behind the Demon that held me in the air. It was a woman's scream.

"MICHAEL!" it called out. I realized it was Ashley and, resisting the pain in my shoulder, I reached for Punishment, drew it, and slashed off the arm that was pierced through my shoulder. I fell to the ground, got to my feet, sheathed Punishment, and ran to pick up Sin. I grabbed the broadsword and turned around to face the Red Crawler, which had already lunged at me, enraged that I had fought back. With just enough time to react, I slashed out with Sin and cut off the Red Crawler's head. The head tumbled to the ground, blood flooding the puddles of water under my feet. The body went limp and fell too, gushing blood from the stump that was its neck.

With that battle won, I then began to limp to the chopper. My vision was going blurry from the blood loss. Ashley sprang from the chopper to help me in. She then signaled the okay to take off and the side doors to the chopper closed and we then ascended into the air. Ashley got me a medic who then treated my injury the best he could for the time being and put my arm in a sling. Ashley went to the front, opened the cockpit door, and conversed about the coordinates of our destination. The medic gave me a sedative to help with the pain and that put me to sleep as Scarlet curled up in my hair. Finally, we were going home. We were going back to Pandemonium.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: From the Shadows**

A woman is running down an empty street. The woman cuts into an alleyway hoping to escape her pursuer. She keeps running until she hits a wall. Fear fills her eyes as she realizes there's no way out, it's a dead end. She turns around and backs into the wall as she sees the silhouette of the man that has been chasing her. The man takes a step forward and she lets out a scream as he lunges toward her.

I quickly sat up in bed, gasping for air. Sweat dripped from my chin into my lap. A pain shot through my left arm. I grasped my shoulder and felt my bandages. I looked around the room and realized I was in the medical wing of the Demon Control Headquarters here in Pandemonium. To my left was a bedside table. On it was a large vase full of red roses, my favorite. Also from the table Scarlet glided up to meet my face. She looked worried.

"I'm fine, Scarlet. Don't worry." She then landed on my right shoulder, my good one, and sat there. I wiped the sweat from my face and looked to my right. A stool sat next to the bed. On it was my usual outfit with a muscle shirt, cargos, and my combat boots. Of course the outfit was all in black.

"Did you help bring those up?" I asked Scarlet. She smiled and flew over to the clothes and sat on them with her legs crossed.

"You know me better than anyone." I told her. She blushed and looked away as if embarrassed.

Scarlet was my best friend. She was a Fire Pixie that I found wounded during a mission. I nursed her back to health and she's stayed with me since.

I hopped out of bed and got dressed. It was a little hard with my wounded arm but I was able to get by. Before I put my shirt on I went over to a tall mirror on the door and observed the wound on my left shoulder. It was scabby with dried blood but at least it was healing. I put the bandage back on it and slipped my arm into the sling they gave me. My eyes then shifted over to my right shoulder where the red markings were. The marks were shaped like individual embers. They covered my right cheek, went down my neck, covered my upper-right torso, and continued down my right arm and stopped at the end of my bicep.

I stepped out of my room with my left arm in a sling and Scarlet sitting in it looking ahead. Nurses and doctors were walking up and down the hallway. Nobody seemed to notice me so I went ahead and turned left when, down the hall, I spotted Ashley walking with a nurse in my direction. Ashley waved for me and began to jog down the hall.

When she reached me she said, "You're supposed to be resting." The nurse walked up next to her and nodded in agreement.

"I'm fine." I told her. She got an irritated look on her face. She reached her arm out and lightly slapped me upside the head. It felt like my head exploded and I reached up and grabbed my head to try and cease the pain.

"OW! What was that for?" I could hear Scarlet twinkling in my sling. I've been with her long enough to know that she was laughing.

"You're so stubborn! You could have died out there!" She had this pained look on her face as if she was about to cry. I tried to stay on the positive side for her sake.

"But I didn't. I mean c'mon, you know I'm too awesome to be taken out by one of those filthy scavengers." The expression on her face changed but I could still see the worry in her gaze.

"You're so full of yourself." She lightly punched my good arm. The nurse standing next to her cleared her throat to gain our attention.

"If you will please step back in the room for a couple minutes so that I could run some tests to make sure you really are okay and you will be good to go." She gestured toward the door to my room. We entered and she had me sit down on one of the chairs against the wall next to the door. The nurse, Claire was her name, pulled out a stethoscope from one of the large pockets in her hospital coat and had me lift my shirt. She put the drum to my chest to find my heartbeat. When she did and figured that everything was normal, she put the stethoscope back in her pocket and pulled out a blood pressure cuff and strapped it to my arm and began to squeeze the pump until the air pressure in the cuff was right and then measured my blood pressure. She took off the cuff and put that aside.

"Now, do you have any recollection of where these markings came from?" she gestured to the red, glistening markings on my body.

"No. Still no idea where they came from." She recorded that on her report on her clipboard.

"Okay, now let's see that shoulder." She said as she began to remove the bandage from my shoulder. When she took it off the wound had been sealed shut with twelve stitches and still looked like it had healed itself with dried blood. Scarlet shielded her eyes.

"That looks pretty bad." Ashley said looking at it grossly.

"Now don't do anything strenuous or it'll open back up, and we don't want that do we? If it opens up you'll be bleeding pretty bad." Claire said replacing the bandage with a clean one. I put my arm back in the sling when she was done.

"See? And you were so eager to run off. That wasn't so bad was it?" Claire said as I stood up.

"Do I get a lollipop?" I said teasingly.

"I'm sorry I don't have any on me." She winked.

"That's okay, a phone number will suffice." I flirted. Ashley slapped me on the head again irritated. Scarlet then glared at me from Ashley's shoulder. She was always the jealous type.

"OW!" I grabbed my head as she pulled me out of the room by my ear. Luckily Claire was able to hand me her number in time and I slipped her a wink before I got drug out of the room.

"You're so immature. Honestly she wasn't even that pretty." Ashley said as we walked down the hall. Scarlet, who had curled up in my hair, twinkled in agreement.

"Pfft, of course she was, with those cute librarian specs, and that short black hair, and that deep blue shade in her eyes. Besides it's not about the looks I look for in women, it's their personality: kind, caring, innocent, even naughty at times." I chuckled. Scarlet brushed a hand through her hair, examining it.

"You look fine the way you are, Scarlet. You don't have to change." I assured her. She twinkled with joy and hugged a chunk of my hair. "I was just kidding about the whole thing anyways."

"You're weird." Ashley said followed by a nudge.

When we got to the main room of the Infirmary, we were met by my best friend Matthew, but everybody calls him grew up together and did a lot together whether it was hunting Demons or exercising. We were two peas in a pod. He was a little taller than I was, about a year older too. I was twenty-six and he was twenty-seven. I was six foot; he was at least six foot three. But there was one thing we both always had in common: we both had the same markings on the same part of our body. The upper-right torso and leaked down our arm and up into our face but stopped when they reached our right eye. On the arm they stopped mid-bicep. The difference between my markings and his markings, though, was that his were blue and mine were red and we both had no idea how we got them.

Aside from Matt, we were met by our friends Connor and Zack. Matt, Connor, Zack, and I were all in the same squad: Kilo Team. Connor was the team's mechanic and weapons specialist. He was a damn good one at that. He could make a gun that could disintegrate a Demon leaving nothing but ash. He was pretty comical too. Zack was the Demonology expert and field researcher. He knew everything there was on Demons. Matt and I were the muscle of the team. If things got violent, which is normal for soldiers of Demon Control, we would wipe out the target.

We all worked as a team, though they looked to me as their leader. Why wouldn't they? I was highest-ranking officer in the squad. I was decorated for bravery, valor, and even dubbed a hero when I saved Ashley from a large Brute a couple years back. That's how we met. We've been friends ever since. She was just another soldier but she was a good one.

We were all trained and skilled in combat. Matt and I were evenly matched in Zack's virtual training simulator. Matt and I would spar for hours without end until we would both collapse from exhaustion. Connor was a very good shot. And Zack could work very well under large amounts of pressure, whether it was checking info on a Demon or quickly hacking a terminal or database. I, as well as Matt, was very skilled in hand-to-hand combat, swordsmanship, and marksmanship. I was very good with any firearm. Zack has also taught me everything he knew on Demons though sometimes the team would need help on finding weaknesses or vantage points.

"I see you're doing well." Zack said.

"Yes, well, I assume you will not be fit for service for a while?" Connor asked.

"Oh please, you guys know I can handle a couple Demons with one hand." I replied.

"Ha, yeah, only if you want that wound to open up." Matt said teasingly.

"Yeah yeah, cool your jets. Besides I bet I could still own you." I punched his arm. When he got ready to retaliate a voice came over the intercom.

" _Kilo Team, report to conference room three in B-wing."_ We looked at each other and nodded.

"Alright guys let's go." I ordered. We all exited the Medical wing and used an elevator to go up to the third floor or B-wing. Once the doors opened we walked down a hall and after passing two intersecting hallways we turned left. Ashley was not with us considering she was not apart of Kilo Team, just a soldier. We walked all the way down the hall and into the room at the end.

The conference room was a long room with a long rectangular table. A large flat screen was hung on the far wall. A man with a suit and tie sat at the end of the table under the flat screen.

"Take a seat Kilo." He said. We did so, Matt propped his legs up on the table. The man had short, silver hair. He had a scar on his left cheek. His name was Geoffrey. He was in charge of our DC HQ here in Pandemonium.

"What have you got for us boss-man?" Matt asked folding his arms. Geoffrey turned in his chair, remote in his hand, and turned on the flat screen. Images of a crime scene popped up on the screen. It appeared to be a woman who was attacked. She was strung up by her neck in an alleyway. There was writing in blood on the wall behind her that read: We Have Returned. From the way the look of her wounds she was killed with a sword. The wounds seemed odd though: her cuts were festering.

"Dear Gods." Zack said staring at the images.

"These were taken this morning."

"Do we know the time of death?" I asked.

"Eleven o'clock last night."

"That's unlikely", Zack said, "Her wounds are too old. If she was killed last night they wouldn't be that bad."

"Does this look anything like any known Demon attack?" I asked Zack.

"Not if Demons were literate, no."

"Strange. Who could've done this?" asked Connor.

"Probably the same person who wrote that message." Matt said gesturing to the writing on the wall.

"'We Have Returned', what does that mean?" Connor asked.

"Oh my Gods." A woman walked into the conference room and looked at the images. She had long black hair with a blue streak in one of her bangs, brown eyes, and a lip ring with a blue ball bearing. She wore a black tank top and black jeans with a black leather belt and a blue buckle. She had black zip-up, high heel boots, and rings on each hand.

"The God of Darkness has returned!" she said.

"Sarah? What are you doing here?" Matt asked in surprise, standing up. She looked over at him and was immediately filled with excitement.

"MATTHEW DARLING!" She ran over and jumped on him squeezing him tightly. Sarah was Matt's girlfriend. They have been dating for six months. She also had an English accent. They met when our team was sent to the northern HQ to assist our allies with a mission.

"Oh that's right. Sarah requested a transfer from northern Headquarters. She is Kilo Team's new member. She will be working in Zack's department of Demonology for this case.

"Sarah, what did you mean when you said 'the God of Darkness has returned'?" Zack asked Sarah who released Matt and walked over to Zack.

"Have you forgotten the reason we fight Demons?"

"That's right, I guess I have forgotten." Zack said as if he has realized something. Sarah and Zack then both looked to Matt and me.

"What?" Matt and I said simultaneously.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Truth Revealed**

"We're what?" Matt looked at Zack and Sarah in surprise.

"Guardians of the Gods." Zack told him. We were both surprised.

"C'mon. What did you guys think those markings were?" Sarah asked. We stood silently.

"Whenever a God's power starts to weaken, he or she seeks out a Guardian, an heir." Zack said. Matt and I looked at each other.

"So, what you're saying is that I'm the Guardian of Fire and Matt is the Guardian of Ice?" I asked in disbelief. "Why us?"

"The Gods seek out individuals who they believe have the characteristics of being a good, powerful leader. They chose you two."

"So what does this case have to do with any of this?" Matt asked referring to the images on the flat screen.

"The God of Darkness has returned and it appears that he has already chosen a Guardian to do his dirty work. He wouldn't dare step foot in the realm of the living. Years ago, the God of Darkness, Bahamut, was defeated by the almighty Ragnarok, the true Demon God. Bahamut fled to regain his strength but left his army of Demons to walk both Earth and Eden. Eden is where people go when they die. Anyway, now that he has returned and has sent his Guardian loose to gain power, it's up to you guys to stop them." Sarah filled us in with great fascination. We didn't want to interrupt her but she remained silent anyways.

"Oh. Since we're getting into the whole Guardian thing, has either of you been able to summon your Guardian Blades yet?" Sarah asked the both of us.

"Our what?" Matt asked her.

"Zack didn't you teach Michael about ALL Demonology?" Sarah stabbed at Zack.

"I think so. Do you remember anything Mike?" He looked at me trying to remember.

"No clue." I scratched my head in confusion.

"Well then, let's take you guys down to the training room then. This is mission is going to be unlike anything you have ever done before." She said walking toward the door. We reluctantly followed. Geoffrey was still looking at the images on the flat screen.

Once we left the conference room we walked back to the elevator. We took it down to 'Basement LVL 3', the 'Training Quarters'. The Training Quarters were large empty rooms. These rooms were used for simulators. Someone would choose a venue, a level of difficulty, and other details such as weather, time of day, etc. There were multiple rooms and firing ranges that people could use to hone their skills.

We walked into the closest room available. Zack, Sarah, and Scarlet went into the control room while Matt and I entered the empty room.

"Okay guys," Zack said over the intercom, "were just going to drop you in a normal urban location."

"What are we doing here Sarah?" Matt yelled to the glass.

"We need to train you guys. You have to realize that an ancient war is about to start right where it left off. And you guys are going to have to be right smack-dab in the middle of it. There is power out there far greater than we have ever faced before. Even stronger than you Guardians." Matt and I looked to each other and realized 'we need to get serious'. We both knew it sounded insane but if this was actually happening, we would have to train hard, but how?

"What are you training us to do?" I asked Sarah.

"To unlock the power deep inside you. The power of the Gods" She replied. After she said that the room began to change. It appeared to be getting larger. A sky was forming along with roads, sidewalks, parking lots, and skyscrapers. It was all digitalizing until we were in the center of a busy city.

"Here is your venue. Now then, let's give you some motive, a little push." Sarah said over our earpiece that was digitally given to us. We could here screams off in the distance followed by loud crashing. The ground beneath our feet began to shake. We looked down the street to the nearest intersection to see cars being flipped into the air.

"Oh no." I said to myself as I reached my good arm up to its shoulder as if to grab something. There was nothing there. My heart skipped a beat and I looked to matt in surprise who had realized he was missing his too.

"Sarah! We don't have any weapons!" I screamed.

"Not yet you don't." She said.

"What does that even mean?"

"You have to unlock your powers. Look deep down inside yourself, find the power, and summon your Guardian Blade."

"How do you guys know all this?" I demanded.

"Years and years of research," Sarah replied, "just trust us and focus."

I looked back at the area of commotion. A Demon had pushed its way through the pile up of cars it created. The Demon was large, bulky, and armored. It had two small legs and two large arms that it used to move around and smash things. Its waist was rather small, small enough for its two legs, and its torso was large and bulky. The Demon was a full-grown male Brute. These Demons normally took me awhile to take down due to their armored exoskeleton. This fight would take even longer with my arm in a sling.

I put those thoughts aside and closed my eyes. I then searched through the crevasses of my mind. Dreams, memories, I past it all until I found a spot that seemed blurry, faded. I tried to enter but found it very difficult. I did realize, however, that the more I tried, the warmer the markings on my body got. I pushed and forced my way in until the markings were almost burning. When I got inside all I could see was darkness everything except a faint light off in the distance. I ran to it and discovered a hilt to a sword. It had the wrappings of a katana. I scanned up and down the handle but could not find the hand guard. Instead there was dark red fur. The butt of the handle was gold with a chain that connected to another gold piece that held what looked like a fang. The handle was standing upright as if the blade was dug into something on the floor. I reached out for the handle, gripped it just below the fur hilt, and pulled.

I opened my eyes as I felt my markings cooling down. I stared at the palm of my hand. It felt warm. As if in instinct, I reached out with my hand, and flames began to emanate from my palm. They started to extend horizontally to the left. I stared with surprise as the flames faded away to reveal a katana. The hilt was the same as the one I saw in the strangely blurry section of my mind and the blade was straight, sharp and red. I looked to Matt who had done the same thing except his katana had no hilt, an icy blue blade, no wrappings, and instead of a chain he had blue ribbons. I heard a voice over my headset, it was Sarah.

"Wow," she said, "what're their names?"

I shut my eyes and saw myself standing there with the katana in my hand. I looked down and instead of nothing; there was a pedestal with something engraved in it. I opened my eyes and looked at the blade in my hand.

"Flametongue." I said as I glanced up at Matt who looked up from his blade.

"Icebrand." He said.

"Look out!" Sarah's voice screamed through my earpiece. I looked ahead. The Brute was closer now and had launched a car at us. The vehicle spiraled through the air. I could feel the strength in me and my markings were warm. I lifted Flametongue over my head and brought it down to the ground. A large flame was sent flying through the air toward the car in a visible slash. The flame made contact with the car and sliced it in half. The two pieces separated and landed on each side of me and rolled until they came to a stop.

"That was awesome!" Zack yelled through the headset.

"How did you do that?" Matt asked with excitement. I looked at him with the same surprise he had.

"I don't know." I told him. We heard a loud roar and looked over to see the Brute charge for me. I ran toward it ready to slice it in half. When I was just about to leap for the Brute, I heard a whistling sound from behind. I duct just in time to dodge a slash that was just like mine except it was icy and misty. I watched it slice through the Brute's torso, cutting it in two. I turned my head and looked at Matt.

"Watch it!" I scolded.

"Sorry." He laughed.

"Good job guys." We heard Zack over the headset. "We are going to pull you guys out now. The boss wants to speak to you." Everything began to fade away and we were in the empty room again. We looked down at the floor in front of us to see two sheaths lying there. I picked up the red one and matt took the blue one, each matching our Guardian Blades. We exited the simulator and went into the control room where Scarlet flew into my sling. Zack, Sarah, Connor, and Geoffrey were all waiting for us.

"We're going to have to make some major preparations if this is going to turn into a war."

"And it will." Sarah added.

"Yes well, anyways, in the meantime a job came in that I want you guys to look into." Geoffrey said.

"No offense sir, but isn't this 'war' more important?" I asked.

"This thing's Demonic Pressure classifies it as a level five mark." He clarified.

"I see, so we're taking out all the big bad stuff that could do some major damage."

"That's right. It's located in the Eastern Desert. Locals are calling it Shudde M'ell. Geoffrey told us.

"Any lore behind it?" I asked.

"Not that we've found. Witnesses describe it as a giant worm with lots of teeth."

"When are we leaving?" Matt asked.

"ASAP."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Contact**

"Alright," I said, "everybody gear up." Everyone except Geoffrey left the room and headed down the hall to the elevator. We ascended to the floor above the Training Quarters; The Armory. Once there my team began to put on their gear. I grabbed my broadswords: Sin and Punishment and strapped their belts around my torso so that I could reach up over my right shoulder and unsheathe them with ease. I strapped on my twin shoulder holsters and slipped my handguns into them. Matt holstered his revolver at his waist. I slung Flametongue over my left shoulder. Matt strapped Icebrand to the back of his belt.

Everybody else had gathered their usual gear that varied from a range of assault rifles and light machine guns to small side arms and grenades. We packed up the heavy-duty explosives too; we were going to need them. We packed two RPGs, a Grenade Launcher, and six crates of ammunition.

We loaded it all up into one of Demon Control's Rhinos, a heavy transport vehicle used to move large amounts of supplies and soldiers on the battlefield. Once all the gear was loaded and ready to go, we mounted into the Rhino and found some seats.

The Rhino was built with a cargo bay trunk, a cockpit for the driver and co-driver, a workbench for creating small arms, a mini garage for one smaller attack vehicle, a passenger bay, and a small weapons room with a risible floor and ceiling hatch that opened up and deployed two turrets for support. Rhinos weren't very big but definitely weren't small either.

Upon everybody getting gear, everybody had also grabbed an earpiece with a one-eyed visor HUD (Heads-Up-Display).

A small window appeared in everyone's left corner of his or her HUD. It was Zack who was in the cockpit getting ready to go. "Is everybody ready? Buckle up, we're about to go."

Everyone strapped themselves into their seats. Zack started up the Rhino and we felt the all-terrain vehicle start forward. We felt it pass a speed bump and then it tilted as we entered the spiral road to the surface. The vehicle remained tilted for about three minutes before it leveled out again. We were on the road.

The display screens in the passenger bay beeped on and visuals of the streets and buildings outside flashed on the screens. The roads were wide and busy with other civilian vehicles. The sidewalks were buzzing with people. Tall skyscrapers reached up to the blue sky almost past the clouds. Not only were the streets busy, but also the sky above as well. Flying cars whizzed by in the air. The city was split into two parts: A top section and a bottom section. The top was no different from the bottom of course except for landing pads for the flying vehicles. I owned a motorcycle that could either fly or travel on land. We passed cafés, restaurants, and other such buildings where people could hang out and socialize.

I was not like these people. I didn't really like to socialize. I remember when there was this big party going on during one of my days off. Of course everybody drug me there to have a "good time". I didn't find it fun except these two hot twins that I met but of course Ashley scared them away. Anyway I just stood off to the side with my drink; I think it was punch. When the party was over, of course everybody got hammered, and I had to drive them back to HQ.

The Demon Control HQ has at least twenty levels of dorms for their soldiers. I personally asked for one close to the top. It's more isolated and has a good view of the city.

"Alright guys," Zack said over a team COM, "you are now free to roam around the vehicle." Everyone unbuckled and got up to stretch. We closed our HUDs and began to roam the Rhino and perform leisure activities to pass the time. It would be a couple hours before we got to the Eastern Desert region. We were at the outskirts of town and almost out of the city. The Rhino, being an all-terrain vehicle, was a six-wheel-drive balance axle vehicle. Bumpy roads were no problem for the Rhino so the interior of the vehicle felt as though we weren't moving at all.

Matt walked over to one of the display screens and tapped a button on the side. The channel switched and he turned on a video game; one of his first-person shooters. Connor exited the passenger bay and went into the room with the workbench. Sarah joined Matt in his game.

I walked over and sat down at the table in the corner of the passenger bay and Scarlet glided out of my sling, landed on the table, and stood there watching me. I put my chin on the table, tired. Scarlet walked over to my face and put a hand on my cheek.

"I'm ok." I told her. She reached her hand up and touched her left shoulder.

"My shoulder is ok, too." I reassured her. She walked back over to my face and hugged my cheek. It was kind of awkward but it felt nice. I sat up and she stepped back a bit. I leaned forward a bit and reached up and clutched the handle for Flametongue and drew the sword from its sheath. I held it out in front of me. The blade shined an iridescent red. The fur at the hilt was soft. I laid the sword down on the table and Scarlet walked over and brushed the fur with her hands. I inspected the fang on the end of the chain. It was a dull canine but it was rather large. The canine of a beast? I set it down, picked up the sword, and slid it back into its sheathe.

Connor then walked back into the room, looked around, and found me at the table. He walked over and set something down in front of me. "Check this out, Mike." He said.

"What is it?" I asked. I picked it up off the table to observe it better. It was a gauntlet. There was decorative metal on the back but it wasn't too flashy.

"Put it on." He said. I complied and slipped my hand in the gauntlet and fit my hand into the leather glove on the end. "Clench your hand." He told me. When I did, a large blade came out of a hidden compartment from under the metal décor on the back. The blade was about double the length of my hand and managed to hide the length by sliding into itself and back into the compartment. I admired the new weapon Connor had made for me. I clenched my hand again and the blade retracted.

"Wow." I said. "This is awesome."

"It gets better," The Russian said as he held up a matching one, "twins. Though giving it to you now would probably be useless given the condition of your arm but take it anyway."

"Thanks Connor."

"Just doing what I love." Connor then turned and went back into the workstation and the door slid closed behind him. I looked around the room; Matt and Sarah were still busy with their video game.

"I'm going to get some shut eye." I told them. They remained silent, fixed in their game. The only response I got was when Sarah shouted 'get some' when she got a headshot. I got up and sat in one of the passenger seats and strapped myself in. I held my hand over the armrest and holographic buttons appeared. I proceeded to press the holograms, typing in setting for the seat. When I was finished, the holographic displays blinked off and the chair slid out from the wall. It then reclined, almost horizontal, and a clear shielding descended from the ceiling toward the bed that was my seat. Before the lid reached the chair, Scarlet zipped into my sling and laid down. The casing then sealed perfectly with the chair, creating a capsule used for travel sleep. Non-lethal chemicals vented into the capsule, and sleep overcame us.

I awoke to Zack tapping on the thick glass. "We're there." he said. The lid slid open and returned to the ceiling.

"I hope we didn't have any trouble getting here." I said.

"Nothing we couldn't handle." Zack reassured. I sat up and stretched my arms. Scarlet did the same and rubbed her eyes, yawning.

"How long did it take us to get here? Not long I hope?" I asked Zack.

"Only took us about two days. It wasn't long after you went to bed when Matt and Sarah decided to catch some rest too," He chuckled, "They even shared a bunk."

"Well, Sarah is rather clingy when it comes to Matt. And Connor? I assume he slept of course. "

"Of course." He said. "Well, hurry and get up. Get your dessert gear on so we can go." He walked out into the sunlight and the door slid closed. I swung my legs over the side and hopped off the seat and collapsed.

"Geez, cryo-sleep really makes you weak. That sucks." I said to Scarlet who was trying to get out of my sling, which I fell on. "Sorry." I lifted my arm and she scurried out. "Guess I'd better get some exercise before I grab my effects." I put my legs together and proceeded to do one-armed push-ups. After I then stretched my legs and ran in place. Once I felt I was in working condition, I went over to a wall, pulled a lever, and a compartment opened up with my gear. _Nice of them to put my stuff away for me_ , I thought. I reached in and grabbed Sin and Punishment and slung them over my right shoulder. I took Flametongue out and slung it over my left shoulder. Scarlet helped me put on one of the two hidden blades Connor fashioned for me onto my right hand. I then pulled out a small poncho and a long cloak to protect me from the sun.

Once I was all ready, I flipped the hood of the cloak over my head to cover my face. The people here absolutely hated Demons of all kinds. I didn't know how they would react to the Guardians walking around in their towns. I walked over to the door and pushed a symbol on the touch pad on the wall beside it. The door slid open and bright sunlight seeped through the opening. I pulled the hood down lower to give my eyes a chance to dilate. I walked down the steps of the Rhino and my feet hit soft sand. I looked around and found Matt, Sarah close by him, Zack, and Connor all waiting around for me, and all wearing protective gear from the sun but they wore their hoods down. Scarlet fluttered into my hood and sat in the folds behind my neck.

The town we were in was fairly large. Doors to houses stuck out of dunes, merchants were advertising their wares, and kids were playing catch with their mothers sitting under canopies in front of their houses watching them. A crowd of curious citizens was gathering, discussing with themselves if any of them knew what was going on. Zack noticed and walked over to the crowd. He was discussing the situation: that we were only resting and were searching for a friend of ours for a place to stay. He gave them a name and they pointed the way for us. We passed by the crowd, Zack leading us in the directions they gave us. They crowd, though, continued to watch us. Specifically Matt and I, the both of us were concealing our identities in hooded cloaks.

We reached a house with a sand-colored canopy and dessert plants in pots by the door. Zack rapped on the wooden door and we only waited for a couple seconds before a woman opened the door.

"Can I help you?" she looked us all over with a cautious look. I stepped forward, Zack moving to the side. She looked at me worryingly. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my Demon Control badge and held it out for her to see. The golden, metal emblem on the badge was the head of Demon with its mouth gaping open, biting down on the letters DC.

"We understand you have a worm problem?" I asked her. The expression on her face turned from confused worry to sadness.

"Please…Come in." she said and opened the door wider, gesturing to her living room. We entered and she went and grabbed a couple of stools for us to sit on. Zack, Connor, and Matt sat on them and Sarah sat on the loveseat next to the woman. I stood leaning against a wall facing the small couch.

"How did you come into contact with it?" Zack asked the woman.

"My son. He was out by the oasis fetching us water when it attacked. The Demon took my son." The woman said. She began to weep and Sarah put her hand on her shoulder reassuringly. Once she gathered her bearings she continued, "My husband was taken by an illness and now my son is gone… This village is all I have left. So I put out a bill for the eradication of the creature. Though, I notice there are so few of you… How do you expect to slay the beast? It is quite massive."

Once she said this Matt and I stepped forward and put our hoods down to reveal the markings on our face. "We have with us two of the four Guardians of the Gods: Fire," Zack gestured to me, "and Ice," He gestured to Matt, "I don't think this creature will stand a chance." He explained.

The woman gaped at our markings as if she had seen the most beautiful thing in the world. "Of course word of this cannot get out to the people of this land. We are here to fight Demons, not insurgents. The people here don't take kindly to outsiders like us. But they hate Demons worse than outsiders, and I don't think they'll be happy about half-Demons." Connor explained. I felt a shock of confusion go through my body. _Half-Demon!? Have I really become a part of the one thing I hate most in this world?_

"O-of course." The widow replied. Her eyes seemed locked on the markings that glistened on our faces.

"Good." He told her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Wind**

After receiving the information from the widow about the whereabouts of the Demon worm we traveled to the coordinates where she believes the worm claims the lives of travelers. We spent about two hours traveling to the oasis she described. It was a beautiful, small lake with a palm tree here and there.

"This looks like it." Zack said over our earpieces.

"Alright everybody, let's get going. The sooner we kill this thing the sooner we get out of the heat." I yelled into my mic. Everyone got up from their seats and put their cloaks back on as to not get burned to a crisp from the sun. The doors slid opened with a hiss and we walked down the ramp into the sand. Overhead a bird circled the oasis.

A man walked to the top of a dune to get a better view of the oasis below. A woman not too far from his age followed him and stood at his side. He was clad in desert protective gear with body armor underneath. He wore boots infused with metal and baggy pants with metal plating stitched in. The woman beside him wore a white body suit and mechanical gauntlets and boots. Bundles of wires traveled from the gauntlets and boots to a rig on her back. She wore a clear visor across her eyes that displayed a HUD. On the display showed system stats, body temperature, and a spiritual pressure counter that read the spiritual pressure on objects and beings and graded them on their power. She scanned the area as a silver Phoenix landed on the man's arm.

"You picking up on any strong S.P. readings, Emily?" the man said.

"Not yet, Joe," Emily replied, "Nothing out of the ordinary." She scanned the oasis and the area. When she reached a certain point near the pool her S.P. meter spiked.

"Wait," she said, "I think I've got something." She zoomed in with her visor until she spotted a group of people exiting a large vehicle.

"What do you have?" Joe asked.

"Contacts. Five of them. They're with Demon Control."

"Scan them."

"But-"

"Just do it."

A large circle flashed on Emily's HUD and it zoomed in on the Russian. Statistics scrolled next to him and it rated him on his abilities: "Connor; DE(Demon Energy) Level: Low. They're Demon Control." Emily said.

She then went to the rather skinny fellow next to him. Statistics scrolled and rated him: "Zack; DE Level: High".

The circular cursor then hovered over the female standing with them. "Sarah; DE Level: Low".

She then scanned one of the cloaked, hooded figures walking out of the vehicle. "BIO Signs read him as 'Matthew'; DE Level:" the scanner flickered before coming into focus again "Very High." Emily said with a hint of confusion in her voice.

Noticing this, Joe spoke up, "What is it?"

"The scanner's acting funny."

"Let me get the next guy." He said as he clicked his HUD on. He switched to the scanner and brought it to the next unknown character. To Joe's surprise, it zoomed in closer to his hood and silhouetted a small figure and analyzed her first. "Scarlet; DE Level: Low," he turned to Emily, " they have a Demon with them."

He turned back to the hooded man and scanned him. "Michael. The scanners picking up a lot of reports on this character," he told Emily, "DE Level:-" the scanner buzzed and popped as static zapped across his face. He quickly grabbed the headpiece and held it out in front of him.

"Busted," He then looked up at the small figures in the distance as he crushed the device in his hand, "let's go have some fun." he said as he smiled.

I stepped forward toward the oasis when the ground started rumbling. Zack pulled out a tablet and started tapping icons that holographically projected from the screen.

"Is it here?" I asked him.

"It most definitely is." He said looking up from the tablet. Then, a dune half a meter ahead of us exploded into the air. Shudde M'ell has arrived. The Demon worm slithered into the sky before crashing down into the sand. It was about the size of a football field as far as I could see and it wasn't even out of the ground yet. I quickly reached for Flametongue as Matt grabbed the hilt of Icebrand. The Demon roared as it continued to spiral out of the ground. It then began to bend forward until it landed in the sand and it started after us.

As Matt and I began to charge for it, ready to try our new powers, I spotted two shaded figures land in front of the worm. They stood between the Demon and us. One was a woman in some sort of mech suit work-in-progress, and the other a man in the same dessert getup as us, a fancy looking rapier at his waist. The woman turned and said something to the man and began to walk toward us. The cloaked man began a steady stride toward the Demon worm that was hastily closing on us. The cloaked man stopped, removed his hood and cloak, and raised his hand out in front of him with his arm stretched toward the Demon, his long, dark hair flowing in the wind and the light reflecting off of his brown skin.

Now just feet away, the Demon worm rushed for him. The man lunged forward, his arm reaching out toward the oncoming giant. His hand connected with the Demon's head, stopping the colossal beast in its tracks.

"Whoa." I heard Matt say. He was gawking at the amazing strength this man had. I couldn't help but realize my mouth was hanging open as well and quickly fixed that. I focused back on the man who just halted a Demon the size of two football fields with his bare hand. The man then raised his hand toward the sky and with it the Demon worm. _What incredible strength, for this man to be able to lift a monster of such size and strength with just his hand_ I thought. He held the Demon vertically in the air, and then suddenly it shredded into eight pieces. _What the…_ The man drew his rapier and leapt into the air, slicing each piece into smaller pieces. Then he went into another frenzy of flurries slicing those pieces into smaller pieces. When he landed the Demon, or what was left of it, crashed around him.

"So much for all the equipment we brought." Connor commented.

"What the hell happened to it?" Matt said. I'm guessing he was shocked at how this man was able to do that. "It just fell apart."

"What," I asked confused, " he just cut it into pieces with that rapier."

"What are you talking about, Michael?" he looked at me questioningly.

"You didn't see that?"

"I saw him jump into the air for a split second before it fell apart, and I saw him land. But that was it." He told me.

"Dude, he was jumping around cutting it like butter."

"How was I not able to see that?"

Just as I finished a short shrug, Scarlet zipped out of my hood in front of me and started making her little bell like sounds. These bells I have heard a lot and am far too familiar with. I immediately reached up, grabbed Sin, and swung it from its sheath, to have it collide with another blade. The woman who accompanied the man was standing in front of me, a blade protruding from an opening in one of her mech suit's gauntlets. Scarlet and I have practiced this maneuver many times over. We always fight together with it. It was our own personal fighting style. When I am attacked, Scarlet, with lightning speed, will dart out in the direction of the attack and alert me that that was where the attack is coming from and I would react with sharp reflexes and block, parry, and counterattack.

The woman who attacked me stared me in the eyes, trying to read what would happen next while formulating a response to the sudden parry. Smoke emanated from the rig on her back indicating she must have used a pair of thrusters to put more force into the attack. I didn't move back an inch, to her surprise.

She jumped back and another blade protruded from the other gauntlet. I spread my legs into a better fighting stance and waited, watching her carefully for her next move.

"Uh oh." Matt said.

"What is it?" I asked without taking my eyes off the woman.

"That guy, he's coming this way."

"Think you can deal with him?"

"Yeah." He said as he slid Icebrand out of its sheathe. He walked past the woman toward the man. She didn't take her eyes off of me, those red eyes. Her hair was pure white and only hung down to her shoulders. _Interesting, she pulls off the albino look well._ She slid her foot back and dashed for me.

Matt was well past us when he stopped, facing the stranger. When he removed his desert gear it revealed that he had a second blade hidden under his cloak slung across his back. It was a fancy looking katana with a Phoenix head at the butt and with black detail all along the handle.

"What's your name, Guardian?" He called to Matt, his milky, green eyes glistening.

"Wha- How did you know I was a Guardian?" He yelled back surprised.

"That blade is no ordinary one." He said.

"Matthew." Matt called.

"Cool name. My name's Joe."

"You too. So, how did you take that Demon out like that?"

"I thought it would have been obvious. I'm the Guardian of Wind. This here is Windrifter." He said, gesturing to the rapier at his waist. "I have the ability to manipulate the wind into any form I see fit."

"That's a little arrogant."

"Say what you want, it's still my power. I'll do what I want with it. For instance…" A gust of wind blew past the two of them and, as if he were the wind himself, vanished in the wind. Joe reappeared behind Matt, "I can beat you."

Matt spun around only to have a fist connect with his face, sending him flying back a few feet before crashing into the sand. He quickly got to his feet and prepared for another attack.

"That was so easy I can do it without my powers, so long as you don't use yours." Joe laughed as he clapped his hands. Matt glanced down at his blade and slid it into it's sheathe. "Very good." Joe said teasingly.

"Is your bark as good as your bite? Or are you just trying to talk to me? Sorry, but I don't swing that way." Matt said grinning.

"Very funny." Joe dashed at Matt with his fist in the air. Matt readied for the attack as Joe reached his fist out for Matt's face. He put his arm up stopping his arm in place and before Joe could react, Matt jabbed his fist into Joe's ribs, making him gasp for air. The onslaught didn't stop. Matt lunged his fist under Joe's rib cage, knocking the wind out of him. When he bent over gasping for more air, Matt brought his knee up and it connected with Joe's face, sending him flying back.

"Had enough yet?" Matt taunted.

"Are you kidding? This is just getting started. Joe got up and ran for Matt.

"Then play with this." Matt reached back, grabbed Icebrand, and slashed it horizontally. An icy slash went whizzing through the air towards Joe. Just before it reached his throat, just a millimeter away, Joe was gone.

"What did I say about using your powers?" Joe's voice came from behind him.

"How-" Matt turned to look and was interrupted by a sharp pain in his shoulder. He reached up and realized a small cut on his arm. He felt the same thing on his leg and looked up just in time to block another attack.

"Interesting." Joe said, impressed.

"It's going to take a lot more than a little rapier to kill me."

"Oh please, I'm not going to kill you. Just toughen you up a little." Joe laughed. Matt was watching him carefully now. Joe lunged at him and reached out at Matt with his rapier. Matt reached up to parry but he didn't connect with anything. Instead he felt Joe cut the side of his chest. He doesn't know how, but he could see it. Just barely, but he could see it.

"Alright," Matt said, "let's play."

She was good. But I was better. I had managed to cut her a couple times. She didn't lay a finger on me."C'mon," I said, "I'm even one-handed."

"My job here is to test your skills, not play your games." She said.

"What's your name?" I had to ask. "You're not bad, I prefer two blades myself."

"Save your flirting for someone who's interested." She barked.

"Who said I was flirting? What's wrong with two warriors introduce themselves?" She seemed taken off guard, realizing she got the wrong impression.

"Emily," She finally said, "my name is Emily."

"Now then, Emily, mind tellin' me why you and your friend here decided to jump in and ruin our hunt?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you." She then charged for me, her thrusters flaring. I blocked her assault, our blades locked, her thrusters still spewing flame. I placed a foot behind me to brace against the thrusters. _Where did I get this strength? Is it a result of my newfound power?_

"Then answer me this: Why fight us? What do you want?" I asked.

"I already told you: To test your strength. And it seems as though you're too much for me to handle, so, I'm going to have to hand you over to Joe."

"Is that his name?" I teased. I threw her back. "Okay then, let's have him."

"Joe!" She called out and the man who was facing Matthew appeared right next to her.

"My turn?" He said, sheathing Windrifter.

"I can't touch him." She told him.

"Really?" He laughed, "And he's only using one hand."

"He is a Guardian, remember? He broke your scanner."

"Alright, whatever."

"Wait!" I looked past Joe and Emily to see Matt struggling to stand. He had small cuts all over his body. "We're not done here!" He then collapsed in the sand.

"Guys," I called back to Zack, Connor, and Sarah who were watching, helpless, the whole time, "go help Matt. I'll deal with these guys." They then rushed around the pair, cautious as not to get into the fight.

"I'll take it from here, then." Joe said to Emily.

"Then you're going to need that sword." I told him.

"Only if you use yours. And where's that second arm of yours?" He laughed. I glanced down at my cloak, underneath was my crippled limb. It was useless in battle. Still I sheathed Sin, grabbed my cloak, and threw it off entirely. The markings of the Guardian glistened in the sunlight. I reached up and drew Flametongue. Joe looked at my limp arm in its sling.

"How did that happen?" He laughed.

"A Demon." I told him.

"You know the Fire element can heal wounds right?" He said. I didn't know that. And I certainly wouldn't tell him that. But I'm sure he already knew that I didn't.

"Try and activate your power." He told me. I did, and as soon as I did my arm was filled with pain, a burning pain. My ember-like markings began to glow. I went down on one knee, but as fast as it started, it stopped. I removed the bandages to find that my shoulder had completely healed. There was no evidence that I had been attacked.

"Alright." I said as I removed the sling, dropping it in the sand. "Whenever you're ready."

"Are you?" He then rushed at me with his Guardian Blade and lunged. I parried it and spun around for an attack but he blocked me and went for my leg. I swiped his sword away and jabbed him in the chest with the butt of my sword. He staggered back and I went to swing at his throat but something was different. It felt as though there was a force resisting against my swing. Once Joe had recovered he was able to retaliate. He blocked my swing and kicked me in the stomach and kneed me in the face, pushing me back. Something was different with him as well: he was a bit quicker this time, as if there was something assisting with his movement. _I see what's happening_.

"That's amazing." I told him.

"Truly. Nobody has ever been able to touch me except for you two." He said.

"No, I'm talking about your technique." He looked stunned. As if I just revealed his most precious secret.

"Oh? And what is that?"

"You can manipulate the wind and air to eliminate wind friction from your movement. You are also able to use it to apply more friction to an opponent's movements, giving you an advantage." I told him.

"I'm impressed." He laughed. "You figured me out."

"Joe, you're a Guardian too right?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?" He said.

"We are too, obviously. Why don't we team up?" I suggested. He seemed as though I was kidding. After a moment he replied.

"I'll get back to you on that." And he lunged again, this time in a series of flurries. It was still hard to move, allowing me to only be able to block a couple. He got off a few scratches before he ended his assault.

"It's like your not even trying." He laughed. This whole time I have been looking for an opening or some sort of advantage to beating him, and I believe I may have found one. He lunged for me again only this time instead of parrying with my sword, I sidestepped and uppercut him in the chin. As he was disoriented I felt as though a large weight was lifted off of me. _His skill only affects my sword attacks, just as I suspected._ While he was stunned I ran for him and cut his leg. When Flametongue cut across his thigh, his pant leg caught on fire. _Man I love this blade._ He recovered and snuffed out the flame. I went for another attack but the air was preventing me again. I quickly came up with a solution that just might work.

I focused some of my power into my blade and my markings started to glow again. After a moment of channeling my power, which I found had sapped a little energy from me, not a lot but just a tiny bit that I could notice, Flametongue's blade became engulfed in flame.

"Nice trick but it will only work if you can move fast enough to hit me." He said.

"I think you'll find it difficult to hit me now." I told him.

"Oh?" He zoomed after me probably fast enough that the others couldn't even see. He lunged for my chest but I brought my blade around, parried, and cut the side of his chest.

"How… How did you…?" He started.

"Fire eats up air. So, if Flametongue were on fire, there would be no air resistance."

"Clever." He said. "I'm impressed. You did well. I might just take you up on that teaming-up thing. But for now we are still fighting. Tell me, what happens to a flame if there is no oxygen for it to burn?" He grinned. I felt a slight change in the wind and noticed what was happening, but it was too late. He had caught me in a vortex of air and vacuum that was sucking the oxygen from the inside out. Scarlet was thrown from my pocket and sent spiraling in the vortex. I couldn't breathe and all the air in my lungs was being forced out. By now my flaming Guardian Blade was now back to it's normal self and I dropped it, trying to catch Scarlet from the fray of sand and sharp winds.

The wind was indeed sharp as I felt as though a thousand blades were cutting into my skin. I finally grabbed Scarlet and brought her to my chest, shielding her with my body from the onslaught. My vision began to fade and it felt as though I was staring down a dark tunnel.

"Well it most certainly has been fun my friend but now I must bid adieu." Joe said as my vision went black and I plunged into unconsciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Lucas**

I woke up in the Infirmary to the sound of Scarlet's snoozing. I was back at DC HQ in Pandemonium. Thanks to my power all my wounds Joe had gave me had already healed. When I got up I tried and failed at not waking up Scarlet. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked up at me with admiration. I remember her being flung from my pocket and into the sharp, slicing vortex. I remember reaching out and saving her.

"Are you ok?" I asked. She looked into my serious eyes and her face lit up bright red. She flew up, gave me a kiss on the cheek that I could barely feel, and walked to the end of my shoulder where she blushed and giggled like a teenage girl. I liked it when she laughed of any kind. She made cute little bell sounds when she did. _Ok, back to business._

I got out of bed and went to the usual meeting room for my team but no one was in there. I went to the Intelligence Sector to see if they might be picking up on any more leads that came up. That's where I found them. In fact, the whole sector was buzzing with activity. _Must be the war everybody is tackling. Maybe we should start another hunt as soon as possible._ I still haven't forgotten Joe though. He ended up stealing our bounty for the 'Shudde M'ell' Mark we were hunting.

"Michael, glad your up." Geoffrey and Ashley jogged up to me.

"This war is going to be intense." I said.

"You got that right, son. I hope you don't mind but I had Connor assigned back to the Armory to help with the production of weapons. We're going to need them." Geoffrey informed me.

"I wouldn't want him anywhere else." I reassured him.

"And of course I have Zack and Sarah here for gathering of intel. If there are any heavy hitters we can take out ahead of time I want to know."

"I'm sure they'll be a great help, sir."

"That's what I'm counting on."

"So what would you have me do, sir?" I felt compelled to ask. The rest of my team was contributing except for me.

"I'm gonna give you the day off until we find something, same goes for Matthew. Go into the city and relax. All the DC Headquarters in the world have been notified and are on high alert. Every team we have is out in the field. You can take it easy for a while." He seemed pretty sure of himself.

"If you say so, sir." I said. With that, I walked out into the large hallway with Scarlet trailing behind. From back inside the room I could hear reports of Demons being eliminated by the mass. We were in fact working efficiently. _Nothing to do here._

I walked through the building's underground garage, looking around the parking lot until I found my ride. I was a black Ducati Streetfighter with red detail. I mounted my bike and put on some goggles to block the wind from getting in my eyes. Scarlet crawled into the neck of my shirt with her head poking out. She loved when I rode my bike. I turned over the engine and the bike roared to life. I revved the engine and listened to her roar. It was as if she was calling for the street. I released the brake and I drove out onto the spiral and began my ascension out onto the street. Once we got out into the city I felt the warm sun on my face and wind in my hair. It was an amazing feeling, one that I always enjoyed.

"What do you say we go get something to eat? Say, Dante's? They have great strawberry sundaes." I suggested. Scarlet twinkled with delight. When we pulled up to a stoplight I thumbed a switch on my handlebars. A console opened up on the tank and flashed on. Holographic images sprouted from the screen. I tapped two of the floating images and they disappeared back into the console and the compartment slid closed.

When the light turned green I thumbed another switch and a sound began to emanate from below the seat. I sped forward and kept my hand on the gas. We turned into the take-off lane and accelerated even more. The sound from under the seat grew louder and louder until a little booster jet under the tail light sparked to life and a blue flame spewed from the nozzle. The booster granted us even more speed and I grinned as the wind blew through my hair and past my face.

We reached the ramp portion of the lane and began our slow ascension. I twisted the handle, gaining speed and creating a larger flame from the booster. We started to slowly rise off the ramp and that's when I pressed a red button and felt the wheels begin to extend, turn horizontal, and retract back toward the motorcycle. Blue flames emanated from the jets that had just formed, boosting us even higher. When we reached the end of the ramp, I pulled up on the handlebars, angling us vertically into the sky. Once we reached the appropriate altitude I angled us horizontally again and matched the speed limit for hovercraft.

"I love that part!" I told Scarlet. She twinkled excitedly. "Now let's go get us some sundaes." We turned a corner and accelerated through the air. We flew two blocks and I landed my bike in the elevated parking lot of Dante's Bar & Grill.

"Here we are." I said. Scarlet crawled out of my collar and perched herself on my shoulder, fixing her hair from the wind turbulence from the flight/takeoff. I walked to the edge and looked down. Far below I could see people as small as ants scurrying around on the pavement. Cars drove down roads and pulled into parking lots of restaurants and clubs. I whistled as I backed up and walked towards the door. On my way in I caught a glimpse a fancy car that stood out from all the other ones. It had a silver paint job with a chrome finish. It was pretty cool.

I walked inside and was greeted by the familiar bell that jingled when the door opened. A middle-aged man walked out from the back room behind the counter. He wore a red, long-sleeved, and collared dress-shirt under a black vest. He wore black slacks and boots that buckled along his calves.

"Evening, Michael," Dante said, "the usual?"

"You know it!" I waved to him and walked over to a bench and sat down. I looked around the establishment to see the usual number of people that come in. Dante doesn't get very busy on weekdays but he's usually packed on weekends. The interior was incredible too. Everything was velvet red and had a nice gothic look to it. It was set up like a dinner with benches and tables lined up against the walls and a counter with bar stools for patrons just stopping in for a drink. The rest of the place had neat tables evenly spread out. Dante was my friend and always went to him if I didn't have anything better to do or if I had something to talk about. Although he can handle himself in a fight he always refuses if Demon Control sends him an invite. He would always say 'I'm doing alright just running my bar'. He was really stubborn like that.

"Here you go, Mike." Dante said, setting down a delicious-looking strawberry sundae on the table.

"Thanks, Dante." I said.

"No problem. And hey," He leaned in closer and spoke in a whisper, "I heard about this supposed war that's going down. How did this happen?"

"That's classified, Dante. But hey, if you really want to know you could just come in and accept that badge we have for you that's sitting there. Alone. Collecting dust."

"Well, if it's true, and it's as bad as I hear, I just might have to." He said. He walked away and went back behind the counter to clean glasses. I leaned forward, picked up a spoon, and started eating my sundae with his words repeating in my head.

I looked at Scarlet who was burying her face in the sundae, "I hope it doesn't get bad. But we still need to be ready for the worst. This is supposed to be the war of wars." Scarlet brought her head out of hiding and nodded. Her face was covered in ice cream with whipped cream in her hair. I chuckled at the sight but was cut off guard by what I heard next.

"No I'm not drinking. I'm having a glass of juice." The voice was unmistakably Joe's voice. My mind raced back to the desert where he destroyed the Demon worm we were hunting. How he beat us up stole our bounty.

"I asked if you wanted to come and you said no." He said. He was talking with somebody, probably Emily, via Bluetooth. "That doesn't mean anything! You should have said something like 'Yes, I would love to go get a drink with you Joe. Wait while I fetch my things'… I told you I'm not drinking!"

I had to take him in. If he was willing to team up with us he would be a great asset to the war effort. I called out to Dante, "Hey Dante, let me get the special!"

"Sorry Mike, closing time! All right everybody, time to box it up and get out! Shops closed!" He then walked over to my table, grabbed my half-eaten sundae, and replaced it with a handgun. He then retreated behind the counter and disappeared to the back room.

When everybody left he was wrapping up too, "Whatever, I have to go, they're closing the shop. I'll see you when I get back." When he ended the call I shot up from my seat, planted a boot on the seat of the bench, and stuck the barrel right in his eye? He had jumped the same time I did and stuck his hand out in the shape of a gun and pointed it at my eye. He wasn't in body armor anymore. He wore a fancy black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black jeans, and black shoes. I'm starting to think black is becoming a trend in this city.

"Long time no see." He teased.

"You're coming with me, Joe." I told him, keeping a serious tone. "You won't escape this time. You're in my city now."

He pondered this for a moment and said, "Make me."

"Why do you take this war so lightly?"

"Says the one sitting at a bar eating ice cream. You're the one who should be getting more serious with your powers." He said. He was right. I haven't gotten a lot of training in yet. I only have been able to heal myself, slice through the air, and send projectile slashes of flame. Not to mention keep up with Joe, which is pretty good. I wondered what else I might be able to achieve with my powers. Only one way to find out.

"Then how about a little one-on-one? Some mono-e-mono?" I fired my gun and, as expected, hit the wall and I felt Joe's fingertips touching the back of my neck. "What is pointing your fingers going to do? Don't you know that it's rude to point?"

"I can send bullet-like projectiles through the air. They aren't as lethal as bullets but they pack some power." He said. I quickly ducked and felt a blast go through my hair. I elbowed him in the gut and kicked him in the chest sending him into another bench, sliding it across the floor. It stopped and landed on all fours again as Joe propped a leg up on his knee and sat back casually.

"Okay. So you wanna play do you?" He said. "Let's play." He jumped up from the bench and swung at me. I blocked and went for a counterattack. He blocked that and kicked me out the window, shattering glass everywhere, leaving me sprawled out on the pavement. He dropped out of the windowsill and walked to me. I kick-flipped onto my feet and faced Joe. He came at me with a right hook, which I blocked and punched him in the ribs. As he gasped for air I jumped and roundhouse kicked him in the face sending him back through the broken window.

I ran for the window but Joe was already up and using his powers to send benches and stools flying at me through the window. I quickly retaliated and through fireballs at the oncoming assault of decorative furniture, bursting it into flames, halting it in midair. I took a deep breathe through the nose and exhaled it from the mouth as a giant mass of flames at the window. Joe rushed forward, and with a big sweep of his hand, he blew away the flames.

"You're getting better." Joe said as he stepped out of the window onto all the broken glass.

"I need to get better. We need to be prepared for what this war is going to throw at us." He took a moment to ponder this.

"Then you better go practice some more. Because there is going to be some pretty nasty things being fast-balled at us." He began to walk away.

"Hey! You're coming with-" I was interrupted by an uneasy feeling. Like something heavy was just dropped onto my shoulders.

"Speak of the Reaper." Joe said. His voice sounded sinister.

"What?" There was a loud crashing sound behind me. I turned to see a group of flying vehicles colliding and a dark figure jumping around the wreckage like a jungle gym. A vehicle collided with another and went spiraling towards us. I ducked and took cover but the vehicle was sliced in half. It came crashing down on both sides of me.

"I thought I felt a massive amount of Demonic Pressure. It's nice to see you again, Joe." A man with dark straight hair, black band shirt, dark jeans, and dark leather jacket walked right passed me and walked up to talk to Joe.

"I've been looking for you." Joe said. His gaze kept getting more and more angry and filled with hatred. _Who is this man?_

"Well, here I am." The man laughed, "When I sensed this power I became quite intrigued. You've been doing some serious training, huh?"

"Oh, I've been training. But I'm not sure that's me you sensed." Joe glared at him then looked to me. The man turned to look at me. He had a silver nose stud, silver studs all along his ears, and silver stud snake-bites. His eyes glowed dark purple. "Who are you? Oh, I see. You must be the Guardian of Fire." He grinned, and turned back to Joe, "You intended to lure me here and defeat me together?

"My name is Michael. Who are you?" I asked, standing up straight. I gripped the pistol in my hand.

"I'm Lucas. I am the Guardian of Darkness." He took a step towards me. Joe rushed forward, holding out his hand. Out of thin air, Joe gripped his rapier, Windrifter, and lunged. In the blink of an eye, Lucas was face-to-face with Joe, a scythe in his hand, clashed with Joe. I stood there in awe.

"How did you guys do that?" I asked, amazed at how they were able to summon their weapons out of thin air.

"What? You don't know? You must be weaker than I thought." Lucas said. "You should know, most of your power is going to come from instinct!" He quickly rushed forward, lashing at me with his scythe. In a flash of red, just like the first time, I stopped Lucas dead in his tracks with Flametongue. "Well, I guess I underestimated you." He said with a creepy grin.

"Yeah, let's find out how much." I said. I broke off from the clash and went to slash at his leg but he parried and jabbed me in the chest with the end of his scythe. He twirled around to swipe at my face but I ducked and slashed his shoulder. I kicked him away and he rolled to his feet. Joe pressed the tip of his blade to Lucas's neck.

"I've been waiting for this. Now I've got you." Joe said

"Outnumbered?" Lucas laughed, "I don't think so." Lucas' shadow stretched forward and a second Lucas rose from it. It stood and grinned at me while its hands turned into black blades. The real Lucas twisted around and readied his scythe.

"Ready to taste my Deathscythe, Joe?" Lucas taunted.

"Not this time!" Joe shouted. Lucas lunged forward and they clashed. The clone began a steady walk towards me. I shoved the pistol in my pocket and gripped Flametongue.

"Some day-off this turned out to be." The clone began to sprint and I slashed for his neck. He easily parried and swiped for my chest. I jumped back and kicked him out of the air as he jumped for me.

"I'll have you know we have about five minutes until Demon Control gets here. Let's make this quick shall we?" The clone stabbed his blades into the ground and a shadow stretched across the ground after me. It stopped right in front of me and a black spike shot out of the ground at my face. I flipped back planting my hands on the ground to support the jump. I did six more of these as the shadow chased me across the lot attempting to stab me. I stopped and landed on my feet, staggering backwards. The clone quickly pulled his blades from the ground and sent five black slashes whizzing through the air. When they reached me I flipped back, straightening my body out as best I could to fit in between the blades. When they passed I finished the flip, landing on my knee.

I planted my hand on the ground to support my fall. Little did I know my hand landed on a dark space? A spike shot up through my hand and pain raced up through my arm and I winced. I looked up at the clone and he was right in front of me. I reached forward with Flametongue and blocked his attack. The shadow staking my hand to the ground receded back into the floor and fled back to the source shadow. I quickly held up my hand and healed it. The clone stared in anguish that his attack had not crippled my hand. He lunged forward in rage. I sidestepped and sliced off his head. There was no blood that poured out. His head rolled across the pavement and as it rolled it turned black and sank into the ground, turning into a black shadow on the floor. The shadow slithered to a bigger black spot which must have been the body. When they combined they faded into Lucas's shadow. He pushed Joe away and turned to me, his expression turned from joy to serious.

"I HAVE underestimated you." Lucas stood up straight and prepared to take on Joe and me at once, "I won't do it again." Just before he could rush me, a squadron of Demon Control attack-helicopters known as Crows ascended from below and trained their guns on Lucas and Joe.

" _Put down your weapons, get on the ground, and put your hands over your heads!"_ One of the soldiers said over the Crow's loudspeaker. Lucas' body sank into the floor and disappeared into the shadows. Joe did as he was instructed though he didn't look very pleased about it. I held out Flametongue. I focused on the sword and it was engulfed in flame. The flames faded away and the sword was gone. _Cool, that's a neat little trick_. Dante came out of the shop. I walked over to him and handed him back his gun.

"Thanks, and sorry about the mess." I said. I pulled two hundred dollars out of my pocket and placed it in his hand.

"Mike, I can't take this. Not in these times. You were just doing your job. I'll pay for this one." He handed back the money.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." I reached out and shook his hand. When we broke off I took the money and put it back in my pocket. "Is that the guy you were after?" He said indicating Joe, "Is he a Demon?"

"Nah, he's going to help us. You missed the Demon."

"But you were just fighting with him."

"Yeah, but he surrendered, which means he's going to help us."

"Good." He walked back into his shop to clean up the glass. I looked at my hand that had been stabbed by that shadow. I raised my eyebrows when I saw a weird looking bruise centered on where I had been stabbed. It faded into my skin and disappeared. Convinced I was alright I hopped on my motorcycle and flew back to HQ.

When we arrived at HQ we instantly escorted Joe to Interrogation. If we were going to have him join us we were going to have to learn what we could from him.

"Ok, Joe, who is this Lucas guy?" Geoffrey asked.

"I thought it would be obvious. He is the Guardian of Darkness. I thought you guys already knew this." He said impatiently.

"Yes but you mentioned something about a 'Reaper'," I put in, "what are you keeping from us?"

"Ok, obviously you saw his Guardian weapon, the Deathscythe. Reason being: he has the power of the Grim Reaper in his body." Joe said.

"The 'Grim Reaper'?" Geoffrey said, "You're telling me we're up against one of the three Great Destroyers?" he leaned forward and stared Joe in the eye.

"No, just someone who can control all his power." Joe said.

"That's even worse!" I said. The three Great Destroyers were neutral parties to the Guardian Wars until they were taken captive by Bahamut. Bahamut sealed away the Great Destroyers into three Guardians to be unleashed at a later date to force the three Guardians onto his side.

"This is why I decided to join you guys." Joe said. "I can't solo the Great Destroyers."

"This complicates things even more." Geoffrey said, standing. "You can begin immediately, Joe."

"Now hold on a second," Joe began. "I didn't say I'd join you. Not until I've been hired and paid."

"What are you talking about!?" I slammed my hands on the table. "We are at war, one that we are not ready for, and all you want is a check with your name on it!"

"Hey, a guy's gotta make a living." He said.

"…How much?" I said glaring at him.

"Two million, in cash, and that's just for me. Emily's another two. And then there's the penthouse, the indoor pool, the spa, the-"

"Making a living my ass!" I began climbing over the table reaching for him but Geoffrey grabbed me and settled me back on the floor. Joe didn't even move.

"You will be paid the usual rate and nothing else!" Geoffrey told him.

Joe pondered this offer for a moment, "Done."

"Finally," I said exiting the room, "cheap bastard." Joe chuckled at my fit. I walked down the hall and walked through the door into the lobby. There, Sarah and Emily were speaking about our negotiations.

"Calm down, look it's over." Sarah said pointing to me. Emily glanced at me, outraged. Her gaze was almost unsettling because of her red eyes, but her stare changed from anger to something else; curious, familiar? Thinking about it only made me more uneasy.

"You." She finally said.

"Yes?"

"You fight well, despite the fact that you are a Guardian." She said, staring into my eyes. She's testing me; trying to scare me, seeing if she could get me to look away. But she won't succeed.

"Thank you." I said.

"What is your name?" She asked, giving up on her stare.

"Michael. You're Emily right? It's good to actually meet you in person instead of in the field." I told her, reaching out my hand.

She looked away flustered, "You honor me with your praise, but I am not worthy."

"What are you talking about?" I said, confused about the way she was acting.

"Michael," Sarah cut in, "the Guardian's are considered strong deities. Especially the Guardian of Fire: The Warrior Deity."

I looked back at Emily, whose eyes were now filled with admiration. I put a hand on her shoulder and she turned bright red and averted her gaze, "You fought very well. You will be an asset to Demon Control; to us." She nodded.

"Are you bothering my partner?" Joe said coming into the lobby.

"You! You're the one who attacked my Mattie." Sarah yelled, glaring at him.

"Alright, everybody calm down! If we're going to work together we need to be able to get along like nice little boys and girls." Geoffrey said, "Joe I still have another question for you: in Michael's report, you said you were looking for Lucas. Why?" Everyone in the room turned to Joe, waiting for a reply. Though, Joe remained silent and went to walk out the door.

"Joe, wait." Emily called to him, but he walked out and went up the elevator.

"What was that about?" I asked. I always thought Joe was always teasing and being a smartass. What's his deal?

"A few years ago, before the war, Joe was the leader of a dangerous mob gang. Don't get the wrong idea; they always did jobs that dealt with some nasty Demon infestations." She said.

"So he was one of those guys. Those kinds of gangs always pissed me off." Geoffrey said. I'm not surprised. We aren't the only ones out there dealing with the Demons. There are other people out there who try and take matters into their own hands. They should really leave it to professionals though.

"Yes and though he acted selfish he really was a nice guy to his people." She began.

"So where does Lucas tie in with this?" I asked, getting kind of impatient.

"Joe got this job to take out some Demons in a nearby neighborhood. An easy enough job of course," She hesitated, "long story short, Lucas killed his entire team. The room went quiet as the sense of uneasiness and discomfort filled the room. After taking a moment, Emily said "Now then, we must go."

"Right." I said and we walked out the door after Joe.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Eden Has Fallen**

After two weeks of training and honing our skills we were able to put Matthew back on my level. He could see and move and react just as fast as I could. Joe was another story. He was at a higher skill rank than us and beat us every time in a spar match. Though, Matt almost beat him whenever they did a hand-to-hand fighting match. Matt was always good at close-quarters combat. He could beat me at that any day.

"Okay," Joe began, "you guys are getting better. I think you're ready."

"Ready for what?" Matt said as Icebrand faded from his hand in a mist cloud. Matt and I just got done sparring and training our power's limits in the training simulator.

"Now that you are ready, I can get you up to speed on the current situation." He continued.

"Well are you going to tell us or are you just going to keep talking about telling us?" I said annoyed.

"Obviously you know that Lucas is here, right? But you don't know why. Lucas being here is a serious problem." Joe said.

"What do you mean here?" I asked.

"I mean, here, in the Human world." Joe explained.

"What are you talking about?" Matt asked.

"You guys do know about the Demon world, Eden, right?"

"Somewhat." I said.

"Okay, so, to sum it up Eden is believed to be the world you go to after you die. It is also the Demon world from which evil spirits cross over into our world." Joe said.

"That I knew." Matt said.

"Well here's the situation. Because Lucas is here in our world means he has finished his business in Eden." Joe explained. "Meaning all the Demons in Eden are at our doorstep just waiting to strike."

"That sounds bad." I said. "What are we going to do about it?"

"That's what I want to know." Matt added.

"Don't worry, my children." Joe said. "I have the solution. I mastered a technique that can transport us to the Demon world. I had to use it in order to increase my training. Which brings me to the good news; you guys are going to train more." He said.

"What do you mean "train more"?" Matt said.

"You can figure that out on your own. I'm not going to make this too easy for you." Joe said. Before we could do anything else, we were pulled out of the simulator program and were standing in the empty room with Geoffrey, Sarah, Emily, Zack, and Connor.

"Before you do any teleporting of any kind," Geoffrey said, "you boys need to prepare."

"I think we've done enough preparing, sir." Matt said.

"He means equipment wise." Zack said. He had for us two earpiece communicators, two grapple attachments for my gauntlets, my broadswords Sin and Punishment, and my pistols. He had a revolver for Matt.

"It's just us going?" I asked.

"I can only transport two." Joe said.

"Quick question," Matt said, "how are you able to do this?" He asked Joe.

"I have a bit of training in Light magic. I can do this because Wind is the purest of the elements."

"I see." I said.

"Now suit up." Geoffrey said. "We need to take the fight to them."

"Agreed." Joe said. I slung my broadswords over my shoulder, buckled on my pistols' shoulder holsters and slipped the guns in them. I slipped the earpiece into my ear and Emily handed me a scanner eyepiece that attached to the earpiece.

"This way you know who to pick a fight with based on their Spiritual Pressure." Emily said.

"Thanks." I said as I attached the scanner to the communicator. She handed one to Matt and stepped back. Sarah said her goodbyes to Matt and walked back over to the others.

"Okay are you ready?" Joe said.

"Ready as we'll ever be." I told him. He then had us gather in the center of the simulator room. When we were in position he took a marker and began drawing runes on the floor around us. When he finished he stood back and held out his hands. He closed his eyes and focused. In a few seconds a small bright light began to emanate from his hands. As the light grew brighter the rune on the floor began to glow as well.

"What should we expect when we get there?" I quickly called out.

"Not sure." Joe said. "But if you freak out during the fall you'll die."

"Wait, what? Fall?" Matt said. Before Joe had a chance to respond, the room began to glow so bright I had to shut my eyes. I tried calling out to everybody but I was getting no response. Wind began to blow past my face so I first thought Joe was using his Wind magic. I felt the Light die down a bit so I opened my eyes and they immediately shot wide open. I was staring at the top of an ocean of dark clouds and they were slowly increasing in size. I finally realized that I was falling and began to flail around. Scarlet, who was with me when we were transported, darted out in front of me. She began to wave her arms and try and calm me down. She then began to demonstrate the correct way to fall.

"Don't struggle!" Matt called from above me. He had his body angled vertically so that he was falling a bit faster as to catch up with me. I quickly straightened out too and the decent began to speed up. Scarlet glided over next to my face and Matt shifted over to my other side. Then out from the clouds a red and blue beam shot out towards us. The red one redirected and came hurdling at me and the blue one at Matt. The red beam impacted with my chest and disappeared. I felt around my chest and noticed it being really hot. The warmth traveled up my chest and into my face where it grew hotter and hotter. The heat was intense yet it did not burn. I looked to Matt who I assumed was going through the same process only I imagined it was cold. As I watched him, however, I noticed the markings on his face begin to glow and shift. They seemed to flow like water and they slithered over to left side of his face and fade into his left eye. As I watched this happen I could then feel the same thing happening to me. Once the strange phenomenon was finished, things began to get weirder. I was suddenly hurdling in the direction from where the red beam came from. Matt was sent flying in the opposite direction. It was as though I was being pulled in by something.

Once I was above the area the beam came from, I began yet another descent. I angled myself and tried to contact Matt on my comm. "Matt, can you hear me?" I said. I got only static. I fell into the clouds and it took a full minute to pass completely through them into an amazing sight. I was falling towards an immense city of markets, courtyards, and buildings of varying sizes all bunched together. I looked around and it expanded far and wide. I couldn't see Matt anywhere. As I continued to fall I began to veer towards a tall cliff that seemed to overlook the entire world. The cliff caught the sun perfectly and was quite green. As the cliff grew closer I spotted a large manor at the edge of the cliff. I was soaring down towards the front when it hit me: how am I going to land? Before I could think too much into it I felt myself slow down.

"Whoa, what's happening?" I said. I don't know why. It's not like Scarlet can answer me or anything. "Scarlet, before we land, go check out that manor." I told her. She nodded and zipped down to the large building, slowly getting larger. Once I was almost to the ground I just about stopped and flipped onto my feet as I landing on what might have been the greenest grass I have ever seen.

"Where the hell am I?" I, once again, said to myself. The front of the manor was pretty welcoming. The front door laid beyond four pillars that held up a marble canopy. Red flags hung on each column that had an interesting symbol on them. They looked old. Scarlet returned and simply shook her head, telling me that there wasn't any body around. I walked to the front door, while taking in how beautiful the area around the manor was. A lone tree stood in the center of a bed of pretty flowers directly across from the manor. The tall gate was shiny and polished. The grass was flowing and swaying in the cool, comfortable breeze. I walked through the gate and around the tree. As I grew closer to the door I was able to get a more detailed view of the flags. They were still red, of course, with a weird black design on them that resembled a dragon.

I reached the door and stopped. I thought about knocking but who would answer. Scarlet says the coast is clear. I grabbed the door knob and to my surprise the door opened. Who would leave their front door open? I walked in and looked around. The rooms were massive and spacy. There were also white sheets covering all of the furniture and décor. So there's another clue as to why there is nobody here. This place is abandoned. I walked down a large hallway and past a large staircase as Scarlet went from room to room checking out the building. I reached a set of symmetrical double doors leading out into the backyard. The backyard was just like the front except larger. It had a large gazebo and rows of beautiful rose bushes. I continued to walk through the breathtaking courtyard until I reached the edge of the cliff, fenced off as to making sure no one would fall off. I stood at the base of an old, large well. Everything in this place seemed large. Not like as if a giant would live here, just that everything was massive. The well was placed in the center of a circle of rosebushes complete with a walkway leading back to the main courtyard. I walked over to the well and peered down into its depths. It was drained of water and I could see a faint light at the bottom.

"What do you suppose that is?" I asked. This time I was not talking to myself since Scarlet had finished her private tour of the house and was hovering over the well. She only shrugged and stared at the bottomless pit with growing curiosity. "Shall we give these a try?" I asked her gesturing to grappling hooks attached to my gauntlets. She smiled and nodded as she glided over and landed on my head. I activated one of the hookshots and it shot out and embedded itself into the inner side of the well. I tightened the thin wire and leapt into the well swinging and planting my feet on the wall. I made my way down the seemingly endless well avoiding any support beams that held the well from caving in and just collapsing. When I reached the bottom I was making a strong effort not to rub the wire against the sharpened and weather-worn rocks. Just to be safe I latched the other hook onto one of the sturdier looking support beams and looked down. The bottom of the well was non-existent and I was staring down onto the large city.

"Now why does this well just lead out into the city?" I asked Scarlet, again. I think this place is slowly draining my sanity. I continued to take in the view of the city when I heard a creaking noise from above. I looked up and saw the wire against the rocks rubbing against the rocks. "Oh sh-" The wire snapped and I dropped a few feet until the wire hooked onto the beam tightened and caught me, until I heard the beam creaking. I took another glance down below at the city directly below me. I tried to reel in the wire so that I could grab onto the other beams. Scarlet was frantically zipping around and trying to pull me up but to no avail. I heard the beam snap, and then it gave way.

I was falling, again. This time I couldn't balance myself out to see the bottom. So I turned my head and caught a glimpse of a small, old church building down below and it was slowly getting closer.

In the city, a cloaked woman was on the run. Three men were chasing her. She was ducking and weaving through alleys but she couldn't lose them. She turned a corner and, while she was out of sight, opened a door and slipped through. She ducted so as to not let them see her through the window and waited for them to pass.

When she was certain they were gone she got up and looked around. She had entered an old, abandoned church. There was an old table across the room and there were old, busted pews everywhere. She made her way to the table and knelt down in front of the small bust of an ember and began to pray. She was interrupted by the loud bang of the doors flying open behind her. She quickly turned to face the men that were previously chasing her.

"Thought you lost us did you?" Said the one in the middle. He had an eye patch covering his left eye and a nasty scar indicating the cause of the patch.

"Guess you thought wrong." Said the man on the right. She began to back away from them but bumped into the table. Only then did the men notice the bust.

"You know it's illegal to worship, whore!" The man on the left said. The three of them crossed the room and the man with the eye patch grabbed her wrist and started yanking her downward. She was forced to her knees and the man on the right slapped her across the face.

"Please! Leave me alone!" She yelled. They ignored her and the patched man punched her in the left cheek. He then let go of her arm and a drip of blood slid out of the corner of her mouth. The patched man stepped back and the man on the left grabbed her, picked her up, and slammed her onto the table.

"You know what whores are for, right boys?" said the patched man. The man on the right began to laugh as he drew a knife and went to cut off the cloak when there was a loud crashing noise from above.

I crashed through the roof of the church which gave way really easily. On my way down it felt as though I was being juggled by all the beams and scaffoldings. I broke through one last scaffolding when everything came into view: the pews, the men, the table, the woman on the table. Oh shit.

I hit the table and landed on the woman with a loud crash as the table splintered into pieces. I laid there for a moment trying to regain my breath. I then lifted myself from the table to see if the woman who cushioned my fall was alright. She stared at me with dazzling, ash-colored eyes filled with confusion.

"Ow." She said. Her long, red hair seemed to sparkle in the sunlight coming through from the newly made skylight.

"Are you okay?" I managed to say. My lungs hadn't fully filled back up yet. I'm surprised I'm even alive after that fall. She nodded and stared into my eyes trying to figure out what just happened.

"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" I heard from behind me. I turned and saw that the patched man was talking to me. I turned back to the woman.

I turned and looked back at the woman under me. Tears began to flood down her face.

"Help me." She breathed. I then realized what was happening. I just interrupted an attempted rape. That's probably my most hated crime there is. I even hate it more than murder. I struggled to my feet and turned to the woman's attackers.

"I suggest you leave." I said, staring at the patched man. "Now." The men laughed and the patched man and the man on the left both drew large knives.

"I don't think so." said the patched man. He then rushed toward me and lunged at me with his knife. I grabbed his wrist just as the knife was about to connect with my chest, and uppercut his elbow breaking it. I yanked the knife from his hand and kicked him away as the man on the right came up from behind me. Scarlet zipped through the hole in the roof and jingled as she passed behind me. I spun around and connected my new knife with his. I twisted my wrist and cut one of his fingers forcing him to release the knife. I swept his legs out from under him and turned to face the last remaining man who had been waiting for the right time to strike. He looked at his two friends and began to back away preparing to run for it. I turned back to the woman who was now standing and observing what I had just done when she noticed the last man running.

"He mustn't escape!" she yelled. Without thinking, I turned and launched the knife across the room until it embedded itself in the man's back. He fell with a thud and attempted to crawl out the door. I walked over and shut it.

"These men are Demons." The woman behind me said. She had recovered from the shock of the attack and was now composing herself.

"What?" I said confused. "I know they are ugly and cruel but that's just mean." I said as I yanked the knife from the man's back and hoisted him onto one of the pews and dragged his friends to join him.

"What are you talking about?" The woman said giving me a curious look. I found the chance to look her over now that she was rid of the tattered cloak. She wore a dirty t-shirt and a pair of torn, faded jeans. A white, tiger striped tank-top peeked out at the bottom of her shirt. I decided that before going any further with this discussion I figured I would introduce myself.

"My name's Michael." I said stepping toward her. She took a step back. Obviously she's not just going to warm up to a stranger that fell from the sky. Not to mention on top of her. She looked me over and took a careful note at my arsenal that I had decorated myself with.

"Serah-Nicole." She replied. "But my friends call me Serah."

"Does that make me your friend, Serah?"

"I don't know, are you?" She still doesn't trust me.

"I did just save your ass, literally."

"I suppose that gains you my trust. Now we must do something with them, before they have a chance to escape and tell the others." She said, indicating the three men sitting on the pew in the back.

"You mean the 'Demons'?" I said questioning her.

"They are Demons! Haven't you seen a Demon before?" She said.

"Oh I have, trust me, and they do not look like that." She stared at me pondering what I said. Then she got a look on her face as though she realized she left the stove on at home.

"Wait, where did you come from?" She asked.

"Did I hit you too hard? I came through the roof, remember? I landed on you." I said, pointing to the massive hole in the ceiling.

"No, I…" she began but stopped and just waved it off seeing it as not important. "Never mind, what are we going to do about the Demons?" she said indicating the three men glaring at us from the pew. "I think the best thing we can do is kill them."

"How is that a good thing?" I questioned. "I know they attacked you but why not just turn them over to the police?" I still wasn't convinced they were Demons.

"I think you're the one who hit their head. There is no police! The entire Realm is ruled by them! Ever since they got here the people of this Realm have done nothing but suffer!" she began to cry again. I started to remember what Joe had said. Because Lucas was in the Human world meant that he took over the Demon world.

"So those men are Demons." I said, serious now. Just as the realization hit me, Scarlet jingled behind me. I turned and the patched man punched me in the face with his good arm and one of the others grabbed me and locked his arms around my shoulders. I was dazed for a little bit because of the punch to the face but when my vision cleared I saw the other Demon, not the one holding me or the patched man, stay with me, trying to snatch Scarlet out of the air. I received a punch to the gut from the patched Demon and the Demon grabbing at Scarlet caught her and threw her against a wall. As I watched her unconscious body fall to the floor, the pain from the hits I was receiving began to fade. Serah's screams began to fall silent and my body started to feel hot. The patched Demon backed up to get a running punch on me when I launched my head back into the Demon's nose. He released me, yelling in pain and grabbing his nose. The patched Demon ran after me ready to fight. He swung but I ducked under it, came back up punching him up under the rib cage knocking all the air out of his evil lungs. He bent over from the impact clenching at his chest when I reached over, grabbed his chin, and twisted his head around.

The Demon that had grabbed me recovered his knife and came at me, swinging at my neck and face. I stopped his arm, kicked out his knee, wrenched the knife from his hand and drove it into his skull. I broke the blade, tossed aside the handle, and kicked his lifeless, limp body to the floor. I scanned the room until I found the Demon that threw Scarlet dragging Serah into another room. I ran over and knocked down the door to see the Demon holding a knife to Serah's neck. I drew one of my pistols and shot him right in the dome, spattering blood on the window behind him. The blade fell to the floor and so did the body. Serah ran from the corpse and took cover behind me as I watched the blood leak onto the floorboards. Satisfied, I holstered my gun and walked back into the large room to retrieve Scarlet and to see if she was okay.

"Where did you learn to do that? _How_ did you do that?" Serah asked amazed. I scooped up Scarlet and walked over to the patched Demon lying on the floor.

I held out my hand and a flame began to burn around my hand as if my hand itself were on fire. I then made a pitching motion at the body and the flame flew from my hand and exploded onto the Demon's back lighting up his entire body. Serah grew silent and looked at me with her ashy, grey eyes full of amazement, awe, and intrigued curiosity.

"Are you with the Pyromancer's Guild?" she asked.

"I think it's time to go." I said. I then walked to the door and yanked it open. Before I could walk out I felt a yanking on my arm. I turned and Serah has still waiting for an answer. I shut the door and turned to face her.

"Please," she said, "you have to help us, Michael."

"What is the Pyromancer's Guild?" I asked. I needed to get to work and by Serah's reaction to my abilities it would seem they are seen as some group of saviors.

"They are the group of contestants to become the God of Fire. But since the Demons took over the Fire Realm they have been shut down and everyone in it went into hiding." She said.

"Wait, contestants? You mean there are other Guardians?" I pushed. This is new information and if I could get in touch with these others I might be able to get them to help me.

"So you are a Guardian!" She reached out and placed her hand on my cheek. She stared into my eyes as if looking for something. "I can see it." She said.

"See what?"

"You're good qualities. I can see why you were chosen. You even went out of your way to rescue a total stranger." She said. Her gaze was almost hypnotizing. I could feel myself begin to become lost in her eyes. I could feel my face getting hot. She noticed my face reddening and removed her hand, looking down at the floor, and backed away. "I-I'm sorry." She said.

I stepped forward, "Where can I find the Pyromancers?" I asked. She seemed surprised by my advancement.

"You can't. Nobody knows where they are." She said. I pondered this.

"What if I were to clear out this section of the Realm? Would they come out of hiding?" I asked.

"If there were any in this region maybe. You're not really going to go up against them by yourself are you?" She seemed worried.

"That's what I'll do if I have to." I said. "I came here to free Eden of the Darkness. That's my mission and I'm going to see it through." She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Admiration, another worthy quality." She then looked up at me and became serious, almost hesitant. "There's a hangout not far from here. It used to be the Pyromancer Guild's hangout for this region but be careful, strong Demons are placed in charge of the regions. It will be difficult by yourself." She warned. I turned, picked up the cloak she was wearing, put it on, and left.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:**

 **Okay, so, this chapter contains a Boss Fight though I'm not too sure I'm happy with how it went. Like I noticed earlier my work seems to be a bit rushed and I feel like it's affecting the quality of the story and I don't want that. Hit me up with some reviews and let's get this story back on track! What are you confused about? Is there anything I should mention more of to lengthen the chapters? This is on a need-to-know basis and I most certainly need to know.**

Chapter 8: All Your Base

I could tell I was close because the streets were becoming more and more unwelcoming. I could feel the gazes of Demons as I walked down the street. In an alley close by, I could hear a couple Demons ganging up on someone. I walked past a group seemed to hiss and snarl as I passed. I came out into a clearing and scanned the area for what seemed like a Demon hangout. I found it and it was easy to spot with Demons going in and out of it. I wasn't going to go in and let all the Demons in the Realm know who I was. That would be bad. I grabbed a dirty scarf from off the ground and wrapped it around my face covering my nose and down. I put up my hood and began a steady walk for the front door.

As I stood there I started to think how I should go about this. Should I go in through a different route and take everyone out one by one all stealth like or should I just barge in and blow the place up.

"Nah, that's never going to work." I said. I started two fires in my hands and kept kindling them until they grew higher than my head. Every Demon in the area now knew I was there and were approaching me when I combined the two flames, sending a massive pillar of fire at the front of the building blowing a massive hole in the wall. I sprinted through the hole and began chucking fireballs at anything that moved until a Demon ran up and caught my arm. I sprung one of my gauntlet blades out and sliced off his arm. He started to yell and grab at the bleeding stump when I triggered the second blade and drove it through his chest, lifting him up and throwing him to the ground.I stood there as Demons piled into the large room through the hole I had made and surrounded me.

"You Pyromancers were told to stay hidden. Now there's no sanctuary where you can hide!" a Demon called from the crowd. I retracted my gauntlets and drew Sin and Punishment. My red eyes glowed from under my hood. A Demon rushed me from behind. I spun around and sliced him in half.

Serah stood outside the old church building and watched the smoke rise in the distance. "That man is possibly the craziest person I have ever met." She looked down at Scarlet cradled in her hands. Just before I left I had asked Serah to watch over her until I got back. "Let's get you back to the way you should be." She said. She then took Scarlet and walked back into the church. Shortly after she had entered a red light began to glow from inside. The red light flashed brightly and then disappeared.

"STOP!" a loud voice from the back of the room called. I had slain twenty-three of the seventy-two Demons that had gathered inside the building. I stood ready for another Demon to run up on me. The remaining Demons straightened and stepped aside to let a bigger looking Demon into the circle. He stood straighter with his shoulders back. "You have got some nerve coming here alone, Pyromancer." I stared straight at him, glaring. Before he continued speaking a Demon rushed me. I blocked his attack and roundhouse kicked back to where he stood before. I turned back to the bigger Demon but he was gone. "You are distracted easily." he said from behind me. I turned and the tip of a blade sliced through my cheek and I was kicked back a few feet. I waited for the wound to Cauterize and glared at the large Demon. "That's quite an ability. That complicates things. Your death is going to be slower than planned, much slower. For honor's sake I am called Lucien. I do not wish to be troubled by your name since it won't matter in a few moments, only the pleasure of you knowing who will have been the one to " He dropped the knife and slid on some pointed brass knuckles that had a Demonic look to them. They were more like metallic gloves or gauntlets. I prepared myself for his next attack when another Demon ran up from behind. I spun around and punched him in the nose, grabbed his arm, and spun him around and shielded myself from Lucien's spiked punch. His punch carried enough force to punch clean through the Demon meat shield but it did it's job partially as Lucien's fist only landed a normal punch to my ribcage. He leapt back and I threw down the Demon's limp body. As the Demon pooled blood onto the floor, I took better care to observe what was going on around me and watch for Lucien's next attacks.

I watched Lucien carefully and noticed that the gauntlet he attacked me with ejected some sort of shell or cartridge, "My Tenderizers focus my Demon Energy into these shells to add to the impact of my punches. Aside from the massive hole in your chest your body will begin to rot and fester. As are the effects of any weapon you would have come upon had you not sealed your fate here today." His gauntlet made a clicking sound indicating that it had reloaded. " Prepare yourself." An auto reload of a five second interval, and a five second window. Lucian had noticed that I had been watching him carefully. He did not notice, however, that I had been searching for any openings or windows, the entire time I had been counting down his reload. He ran up on me in a zigzag formation and swung for my face. I leaned back and heard the pointed knuckles of the gauntlet hiss by as it attempted to make contact with any living thing to rot into ash. Lucian took advantage of my chest being left open to swing again as his other gauntlet ejected. Five… I jumped back and dodged the other swing of his second punch. Four… I rushed him and he leapt back, his other gauntlet ejecting it's spent cartridge. Three… I dropped Sin and Punishment reaching out and grabbing his ankle. Two… I pulled him back in mid air and gripped the wrist of the left gauntlet. His eyes filled with shock as my fist lit up in flame. One… My fiery punch connected with his face with such force it smashed his head into the ground, shattering and cracking the marble and tile flooring. Zero… The back of Lucien's head bled out into the cracks of the crater. The battle was over seeing as how I could feel his skull crack under the force of my punch. I stood up straight looking down at the lifeless Lucien. My attention was reverted back to the rest of the Demons around me who had closed in during our fight. Sin and Punishment was well behind the crowd leaving them inaccessible. I looked around searching for an opportunity to escape. I thought about using my last grappling hook to flee to the rafters but I didn't see any windows. My only way out was to fight my way through. I activated my wrist blades and they slid out quick and sharp. I only noticed the strange light at my feet when the it began to grow intense. Lucian's gauntlets were shining. They began to glow and they flashed a purple light, blinding me. When I regained my vision the blades in my own gauntlets were out and Luciens gauntlets had merged with mine. My gauntlets now had stylish metal plating and my blades had carvings of flames at their base which glew red and caused the blades to become red hot. I retracted my blades and hot steam began to spew from vents in the metal gauntlets. I then brought them back out and stopped focusing my power into them and they didn't glow or get hot.

"This ought to be fun." I said in a deep, raspy voice, my scouter masking my true sound. My blades began to glow hot again as I pumped my Demon Energy into them and the first Demon sprang at me and I sliced right through him like a hot knife through butter. I prepared for the next one and they all came for me in a desperate attempt to exact revenge for their fallen leader and to gain their place as the new one. I spun and I slashed as we danced around each other in combat. As the last Demon fell, I retracted my blades activating my new Demonic gauntlets' cooling system.

Behind me I heard something surging. I turned around and actually looked at what was left of the building I had partially set to flame. The floor was checkerboard tile with red carpet and pillars were placed symmetrically on each side of the room. Two curved staircases went up and connected at a balcony which led to the other rooms on the second floor. On the circular balcony a strange sphere of light in a round device began to glow and shift from purple to red and back. The surging got faster and faster until it turned into a massive flame that shot straight up through a circular skylight. I walked outside and watched the pillar of flame reach up into the dark clouds. As I watched, a crowd of people began to swarm into the streets, noticing the absence of the Demons that lurked and kept them in their broken up homes. They began to notice me and I retreated into a dark alley where I could not be seen and still view what was going on.

The dark clouds began to look less and less evil until they returned to their usual pure, white form and disappeared, though only the portion that covered section of the massive city so more dark clouds still remained.

"We're saved!" I heard a woman yell in joy.

"The darkness here has passed!" said an old man.

"But who did it?" a man asked.

"I saw someone go into here." said another man, his voice getting closer to my hiding place. I quickly climbed up the walls and hid on the fire escape. A group of people gathered around the entrance of the alley and peered in, unable to see anything.

"Look, the building is on fire! It was the Pyromancers!" someone cheered. I climbed the rest of the way up the tall building and crouched on the roof, observing what was happening. The building I had eradicated was indeed still on fire but was not burning. At least not the way it was supposed to. Instead of burning away into ash the building was regaining its structure and form as if the flames were repairing it. The same went for everything else that was no longer covered in shadow. The streets began to look cleaner, and the shops and houses started to regain their color. Light posts straightened and shined down on the streets. Windows were no longer broken, and everything was becoming more beautiful. It looked like an actual, welcoming town. Well, this large area did.

As I looked down amongst the crowd I could see Serah walking around with a woman I haven't seen before. As the two of them made their way into the crowd, a group of people clad in dark clothes and matching red scarves emerged from the streets and gathered at the front of the building.

"It's the Pyromancers!" a woman cried. The group split to let a man with the same dark clothes except they were hemmed with gold lining and shiny pieces of armor on his legs and shoulders. Instead of a scarf, he wore a red mantle with a gold emblem of a flame on the back. His hair was shoulder length and black with red at the tips. Though he was slim he was quite muscular. At his waist was a sword with a red grip and a gold crossguard. The pommel was diamond shaped and also gold. The sheath described the blade as straight with a diamond shaped tip. His eyes were red due to his Pyromancy and his jaw was clenched making it look broader and more masculine.

"It's Flame." the crowd mumbled. They began to hush as he raised his hands. He was about to speak.

"Like you all I am very glad that the Demons, in this district, have passed." he started. his voice was calm and welcoming. "However, it was not the work of the Pyromancers. Though we are grateful for whoever has done this task." I climbed to the floor of the alley and began to walk towards the crowd as one of the Pyromancers, a man with blonde hair and just a little shorter than Flame, whispered into Flame's ear. I removed my hood and and lowered the old scarf from my face. The blonde Pyromancer stepped back into the small group and Flame spoke again, "What this mysterious man has done for us is surly a miracle that I did not bestow or a prayer that I did not answer," he must be the man I need to talk to, "and even though I would be honored to reward this man for his courage and skill, for the safety of you and all the people of my country, I have no choice but to arrest him and turn him over to the Demons for the charge of breaking the treaty." I stopped at the edge of the shadows. Arrest me? But I just saved a lot of people. I could even do more. "If anybody has any information about the culprit we ask that you bring him forward so we may deal with him before the Demons get him. But, of course, I will assure you that we will take advantage of victory of claiming this District. Thank you." and on that note, Flame turned and walked into the building and his Pyromancers followed.

"Sorry, Flame," I muttered to myself, "I have a mission of my own." I then turned and climbed back up to the roof. I stood there and observed the sky. I watched as the dark clouds that surrounded this District did not attempt to return over this area. I also noticed that the large masses of dark clouds swirled above certain areas of each District. "Those must be the sources of Demons' power in this Realm. At least I have a list of targets now." I then turned my attention to the horizon. Once I located the tall bell tower, indicating the location of the church I had come from, I made my way over there.

Once I reached the church I quickly ducked behind some cover on the roof of the building I was on. As I peered down at the entrance of the church, I felt my chance to meet back up with Serah and Scarlet greatly lessen. Crowds of people piled into the massive church yet the building still looked rather empty due to it's size compared to the size of the District. Though this looks to be one of their housing Districts it is a rather small one. I would have to make my plans here, on this rooftop, to regroup. I looked to the roof of the church steadily brought my gaze higher and higher up the rocky slope that was still covered in darkness far outside the District. I bet I could use my one good grappling hook to scale it back up, though it would take a while.

I made my way along the rooftops to the edge of the District. I think I can reach it now. I wound my gauntlet until I heard a satisfying click then aimed it high up at the rocky face. I triggered the ejection, launching the hook at an incredible speed. I guess this isn't spring powered, or is it the effects of my new gauntlets' power? The cable straightened and the device clicked again. I pulled on the cable to make sure it was tight.

"Okay, here we go." I said to myself. I activated the reel-in and I was swept off my feet. The gauntlet was eating the cable at such a fast speed, I jettisoned up the cliff wall. When I reached the end of the cable I found a foothold, detached the cable from the rock wall, aimed, and fired again. The cable straightened and clicked and I reeled it in again sending myself flying up the slope. I did this about three more times until I was able to see the bottom opening of the well I fell out of. I looked down below me and I had ascended just above the dark clouds and could just see the small opening of the District I had cleared.

I made my way back up the well and climbed out over the top. I looked around at the familiar courtyard full of rosebushes and archways. I walked back into the manor and explored the rooms. Most of them were empty bedrooms and closets. I walked through the large dining room and passed through a pair of double doors that swung open and found the kitchen. It was large and smelled clean. The cupboards were bare and the freezer was like a frozen wasteland except without all that snow and wind. I made my way back to the doors but was stopped when I noticed a glowing coming from the cupboards all around me. I opened a set and It was stocked with food. Beans, peas, carrots, corn, and an assortment of other vegetables adorned the many cupboards throughout the kitchen. I swung open the large freezer door and saw meat carcasses hanging from hooks and smaller meats were wrapped in paper and stacked on shelves along the walls. I shut the freezer door, then opened it again. It was still there. I moved to the fridge and opened it and found a wall of fruits and cheeses. I picked a grape off a vine and ate it as I shut the fridge door and looked around. Pots and pans hung above counters and knives were mounted on the wall above the stove.

"Okay then?" I walked back into the dining room and the long table was decorated with a fancy table cloth and at each seat was a plate and a set of silverware. I ran into the foyer and the sheets were missing on all the furniture. A couch sat at the back wall away from the fireplace, which was now lit, and a recliner was placed at each side of the couch. On the side wall rested a loveseat and candlesticks hung on each wall fashionably and a fancy, wooden coffee table sat in the center of it all. I walked all over the house and, though it was still empty, it looked as though a whole family had been living here. Beds were dressed and the sheets tucked in. I walked down the main hallway, passed under the stairway, and continued on until I heard a click. I looked over and one of the candlesticks was bent to the side and a secret wall was sliding back behind its neighbor.

I walked over to investigate the dark opening. I could barely see inside but there was a small light coming from the bottom of the staircase. I carefully descended the stairs and turned into a dimly lit room. There were bare shelves on each wall and empty stands. I walked through one of the aisles and stood in front of an opening in the back of the room. This room, however, was not empty. In the center was a mannequin adorned with a black coat. The coat had a hood and on the dummy's face was an eerie mask. The mask was black and smooth and appeared to have the bottom part of a skull engraved at the bottom where the mouth would be. The only other noticeable feature was two eye holes. Black metal pauldrons protected the shoulders. I placed my hand on one of the pauldrons and wiped dust from the shiny metal. On the back of the long, black coat was a stitching of two red wings. A massive light emanated from the room behind me and a gust of wind blew into the room I was in. I turned around and quickly walked back into the previous room and was shocked to see the room no longer empty. The shelves now displayed elegant and very large knives. Some held racks of throwing knives and boxes of pellets that I didn't recognize. I walked over and picked up a pellet. It had an etching of a cloud on it. I raised it over my head and threw it to the ground. The entire room filled with smoke.

After about five minutes I was finally able to air out the room and the smoke retreated out of the manor. I went back into the secret armory and observed the rest of the collection. Lances and javelins stocked the aisles along with different swords, axes, and maces. Also all of the weaponry shared an emblem that resembled a dragon, much like the one on the flags and banners throughout the manor. After I finished my joyful stride through the weapons and gadgets I exited back out to the rear courtyard.

I walked through the courtyard observing the roses and scenery of the massive backyard. I made my way through the maze of low cut rosebushes and stood in the center of the gazebo. I spun around looking at the beauty of it all. I continued my personal tour, passing statues and busts of men and women, works of incredible art. I reached the well but did not peer down into its bottomless depths. Instead I passed the gaping vertical tunnel and walked over to the gate at the edge of the yard and looked down the side of the cliff. The sea of dark clouds was massive and wide and stretched to the horizon. I could see a large number of spots where the clouds swirled and spiraled. I clicked on my communicator and part of the device flung out and covered my right eye. The clear, transparent screen flashed blue and then faded back, leaving a blue HUD (Heads Up Display). The HUD scrolled through texts and activation protocols as it booted itself up. When it finished its setup I detached it from the earpiece and crouched down and held the device out in front of me. It flashed and projected a series of tabs and icons. With my other hand, I reached out and fingered a tab that read 'Scan Area'. The tab blinked and the tabs and icons disappeared except for the one and another set of tabs branched off of that one. I pressed the tab that read 'Demon Hotspots'. The tabs faded and the projections vanished. I reattached the screen to the earpiece, hopped up on the low brick wall, and pressed my face against the bars of the fence. The HUD began scanning and marking the multiple swirls in the dark clouds.

When It finished I stepped down and went over the results. 65 Demonic hotspots, 65 Districts to be cleared. After reviewing the results I deactivated the device and tried the comm. The HUD flipped back into the earpiece and I clicked on the mic. "Hey, Matt. It's Michael, can you hear me?" the comm went silent and I got nothing but static. I tapped/banged on the earpiece and heard sharp pings of static. I tried again, "Matt, can you hear me?" Once again I got static and something else happened that I didn't expect. The mic acted as a speaker and projected my voice, though the comm must have been damaged from the fall from earlier because my words came out in a deep tone and my voice was scratchy and almost Demonic. Disappointed, I turned off the comm and deactivated the earpiece. I went back inside the manor and placed all of my gear on a few vacant spots in the hidden armory. I placed my earpiece on a shelf and my gauntlets next to it. Sin and Punishment went in an empty weapon case underneath the shelf and my pistols I placed on a counter next to the glass case, emptying the magazines and I found an empty wooden box to place the ammunition.

I exited the room and the hidden wall replaced itself when I righted the candlestick that was crooked. The wall clicked and I walked back into the large foyer. I was about to reach for the door when the knob started to jiggle and turn. I quickly found a place to hide and waited for whoever was coming in. the door creaked open and it was Serah and her friend. I came out of my hiding place. "Hey." I said. She turned and saw me.

"Michael. What are you doing here?" She asked curiously.

"I found this place. I just wanted to see if anyone was home." I lied. This is going to be my base of operations. I can't have people knowing what i'm doing here.

"There isn't. This place has been abandoned for centuries. Why does it look as though someone's been living here?" She scanned the foyer. Rather than the manor being old and full of dust and cobwebs it was neat and clean.

"You got me." I shrugged. "Who's your friend?" I asked changing the subject. Serah turned back to me and looked at the other woman in the room. She was a little shorter than me by almost a full head. She wore a tank-top and a pair of small shorts. Covering most of her legs was a pair of knee length boots with laces crossing all the way up the front. Her hair was red and shiny, making her look a little like Serah. Her eyes were also red. Her hair was tied back into a ponytail that reached down her back and stopping in the center.

"I thought you would have recognized her at first glance, Michael." Serah said surprised.

"No, I don't believe I…" I looked closely into her eyes as she stared at me. Something about them was familiar. "Scarlet?" I said surprised.

"Hello, Michael." She said. She spoke! Her voice was beautiful and gentle.

"What happened to you?" I asked.

"All Demons take on a Human form in Eden." Serah said. I couldn't stop staring at Scarlet. She was beautiful.

"Stop staring like that, Mike." Scarlet said. She put a hand on her cheek and turned her head away. "It's embarrassing." She began to blush.

"What exactly is going on here." Serah said, getting back on the topic of the abandoned manor looking not so abandoned.

"Like I said: I don't know. I found this place like this. Do you know anything about this place? I keep seeing this symbol of a dragon." I asked her.

"This is Dragoon Manor. It used to be home to the most powerful of all Pyromancers. The Dragoons were a family of Pyromancers greatly respected by the people of the Fire Realm."

"What happened to them?"

"The Fire Realm was one of the first to fall. We were quickly swept into a massive war against the Demons. Flame, the Demon God of Fire, called upon the aid of the Dragoons. Though the Dragoons were strong and fought valiantly, we lost the war, ending it with a treaty signed by Flame. Unfortunately, the Dragoons were wiped out in the war. The entire bloodline, gone." She lowered her head, remembering dark times and took one more look around the manor, "Or so they say."

"Then why was there only one coat?" I muttered to myself.

"What?" Serah noticed.

"Nothing." I said. I then felt a slight ping in my right arm. I glanced down at it and the black spot from my fight with Lucas was back, but only slightly. Though it looked as if it had spread and was festering. I hid it behind my back casually so as not to catch the attention of either of the girls.

"The only known survivor of the Dragoons was the head of the family, the Great One, Satan." Serah said, returning to her story, "Though he was captured and forced to the Darkness." My arm began to feel worse. The black spot was becoming more pronounced. I winced. Serah noticed and became more focused on me. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine. Just got a bit of gas." I lied. She saw through this one. She noticed I was hiding my arm. "I need to use the bathroom."

"Let me see your arm." she said. Scarlet got a confused and worried look on her face. I turned back around and held up my left arm, showing that it was completely normal. "Your other arm." she demanded. I lost my smirk and held out my right arm. It, too, was completely normal. At first I was confused but I regained myself and played it off.

"See, I'm fine." I told her. She looked concerned and I could tell she wanted to question me further but let it go.

"Alright then, I need to be getting home. Do you have a place to stay?" She asked me.

"I thought here might be fine." I suggested.

"Okay, though I wish you wouldn't. It's in Demon territory and I find it a little disrespectful. Scarlet will you be staying with me?" She asked.

"No!" Scarlet yelled. She ran over to me and wrapped herself around my arm. " I want to stay with Michael!" Her eyes were those of a puppy's and her quivering lip only made her look more adorable. It was actually pretty cute.

"Oh fine," Serah said, "but don't break anything." she said resisting a smile. She took one last look around the foyer, "That is truly odd." She then left, closing the door slowly behind her as if she were to slam it shut the entire manor would shatter.

"Okay then." I sighed. I went to walk back into the dining room to grab something to eat but I was stuck. I looked back and Scarlet was still cuddling my arm. "Uh, Scarlet?" she snapped out of her trance-like state and quickly released my arm.

"Oh, sorry!" she said, her face turning red. I chuckled and walked into the dining room with Scarlet right behind me.

"You hungry?" I asked.

"A little." she said. "So what's your next move?" she sounded more serious and mature now. I stopped at the kitchen doors and she sat down in one of the chairs and began arranging her silverware.

"I hit the next one at sundown." I entered the kitchen and began gathering the pots and ingredients for dinner. I was making steak.

"Oh," Scarlet said looking down at her plate, her sad reflection looking back at her, "alone?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Cooperation**

As I arranged my gear in the armory I couldn't help but steal a glance at the door that lead into the separate part of the armory meant only for the coat I found earlier. I kept thinking about it and, having my gear all assembled, somehow found myself in the room, staring at it. Upon further inspection the leather was formed to give it a scaly look. Kind of fitting I thought as I noticed another dragon symbol on the back and on the left breast of the coat. I wondered what made this coat so special and why this was the only one in the armory. There were many questions I had come to ask myself ever since I stumbled upon this manor and met all the people I've run into. And Scarlet, that wasn't something I saw coming. After all the things that have happened thus far I doubted anything else was going to catch me off guard, I hoped.

I figured I was going to be doing a lot of sneaking around with all these Demons and this coat, as dark as it was, would be very convenient in doing so. In fact, for some odd reason, it was hard not to think about this coat, this shroud of mystery. It was alluring. It wanted my attention, begged for me to put it on. The mask gave off the same, eerie feeling. With its blank face save for the mouth of a fanged skeleton. Every tooth sharpened to penetrate metal. Though the tattered hoodie I had was just fine I still couldn't help but _need_ this ensemble. I reached a hand out and grasped one of the shoulders. Its smooth, metal pauldron seemed infused with the scaly leather. I noticed here that the sleeves were not stitched to the coat itself but were latched to the pauldron with a small buckle. I folded the hood back to further reveal the creepy mask. The hood fell back and it seemed that the mask was staring straight through me, into my soul.

I swallowed and went to remove the coat off of the manikin when I stopped. I froze, staring into the eyes of the mask. It didn't have eyes before. It was a clean black face, but now, It stared at me with glowing, red eyes. I long got passed the threatening, frightening stares of all the Demons I have faced before but these struck a sense of unease straight to my core. A bead of sweat started to form just above my brow when I shook off the feeling and continued my movements. In an instant everything went dark just before the coat could be removed and I was in my thoughts. After training sessions with Joe to access my power I had come to just referring this area of myself as my soul or something like it. This time was different however. Everything had gone black and the eyes of the mask were bigger now and staring down at me. They seemed to have a body this time but it was too dark to see the massive creature and the sweat began to gather again, one drop streaking down my chin and landing at my feet. A low, deep growl could be heard from the large figure, and then it spoke. It said a phrase, or at least I thought, in a language I couldn't recognize, and I knew a few.

"What?" was all I could muster to say when it had finished speaking. My hands were shaking as the glowing red crystals stared right through me, piercing my very being. A look of dominance, of power, of challenging. The growling continued, almost irritated.

"You are not yet worthy of this power, hatchling." it spoke again, audibly this time. Even though I could understand it I still couldn't stop shaking let alone calm myself. Was it this immense power emanating from this creature, or was it the large, commanding tone it spoke with. The power and authority in its voice matched that of the strength in its gaze.

"Power? Hatchling? What are you?" I dare questioned it. In my line of work I have faced many a Demon but none came close to the way it spoke, the way it seemed to scare me so. It only continued to stare, to growl, before it spoke again.

"You are not worthy."

I was snapped out of my trance and I was standing there in the middle of the room and the coat was gone. The manikin stood bare and I felt a form fitting to my face and a sense of warmth in my eye sockets. I was channeling energy. I reached a hand up to feel cool metal and rows of teeth. I looked into the mirror to my left and staggered back, shocked. I was wearing the mask. I involuntarily had put it on during my trance. The damn thing was alluring and my body had acted on its own and put it on. Things were getting weird again. I took it off and pulled out the cloth I had been using to mask my face in the previous night. I discarded the cloth and placed the mask with the rest of my gear when the voice echoed through my head again.

"Stare into the hearts of your enemies and strike fear into their souls." I couldn't understand anything that was happening tonight and it was all happening rather fast. I shook my head to clear my thoughts as i finally rested the mask on the table. I slipped on the old hoodie and strapped Sin and Punishment to my back, slipped on the now Demonic-looking gauntlets, and holstered my pistols to my thighs. When I had gone to replace the broken wire in my gauntlet I discovered that the both of them no longer had any. Instead, they both ejected with small handles and pointed pommels to be used as daggers. I didn't quite see me using them as grappling hooks anyway but it still would have been nice though the daggers seemed convenient as well in case I was disarmed. I grabbed the mask and went outside towards the well.

I looked out over the mostly crumbled city and searched for my next target. I noticed a large district off in the distance that contained multiple canopies and stalls. It seemed to have been a bazaar or marketplace of some sort before it was overrun. I figured since I just a good amount of people and their homes I might as well give them something to go back to, whether it be work or window shopping. I targeted it with my scanner and made a quick guesstimate of where the energy surrounding the market could be as I prepared for my departure.

I snuck my way along the streets and through alleyways to reach my destination. Once there I stood in an open street that looked abandoned. Not a soul walked the cobblestone road. Each side of the street were destroyed stalls and shops that were decorated with broken ornaments and damaged signs that used to be full of color. The massive road lead down the middle of all the shops and stores right to the steps of a larger building. Something of a bank or factory? I spied an open window a few floors up and decided I would use it as my entry point. I climbed up using any crevice I could fit my hands into and any footholds that didn't break under my boots.

When I reached the window I stretched my hand out to open it but it practically fell inward. I cringed as I awaited for the loud crash but it never came. I peeked inside and found it had landed on a pile of papers and empty files. I crawled through the window sill and dropped to the floor. A quick glance around the room identified to staircases leading downstairs and rows of desks topped with lamps with tattered lampshades and spilled ink wells and broken chairs. Not a single enemy. I continued downstairs, being careful not to knock anything around or step on a creaky board. When I reached the stairs I heard a commotion downstairs and continued with a little more urgency to investigate.

I leaned out of the entrance to the stairwell to see a man fending off three Demons. I watched as he dispatched one of them with ease but another was creeping up behind him. I went to step out but he reacted faster than I did and spun, slicing off its head and cutting of the other's arm and wrenching its head off as well. At this time I was able to view his arsenal. He wore a leather jacket with only one sleeve on his left arm with a symbol of a flame on his back. His pants matched with the same symbol on each calf. His boots were thick and heavy and had seen their share of wear and tear. His blade wasn't just one blade but two and was joined at the center by the handle, a double bladed sword. I went to step back into my hiding spot but he heard the step and turned to face my direction and prepared to strike.

Realizing I had been caught I stepped out of my hiding place and faced him. He glared at me and spoke, "I thought you would be scarier." I cocked my head in confusion.

" _You were expecting me_?" My busted microphone still masking my voice.

"Of course, who hasn't heard of the evil Dracula?" He said, my microphone causing some confusion.

" _And you're a Pyromancer_?"

"What gave it away?" He held a hand up and a ball of fire formed in the palm. He leaned in and blew out the flame, embers scattering in all directions. He was mocking me.

" _Your name_?" I asked shifting my feet. He was taken aback by this and took a step back.

"Lance." He said it in a defensive tone. After all, he thought I was _the_ Dracula. Using this as an advantage I stepped forward, further into the room to gain some ground and get into a more maneuverable arena.

" _Listen Lance, i'm on your side here. I'm not who you think I am._ " He was already in motion. He reached me in what felt like a split second and had the tip of one of his razor sharp blades reaching for my throat. I sidestepped the attack and the blade thrust past me. He planted a foot and brought the other blade for a sweep at my neck. I swung my arm up and blocked the blade with my gauntlet, kicked his forward knee out dropping him lower, and kneed him in the nose. The muscle in my leg didn't cause damage but he was discombobulated as he staggered backwards and got back into a fighting stance, shaking his head and regaining his senses. His shoulder length, silver hair dropping into his face. He took a hand and swept it back and returned to his stance.

"Is that all you got you blood-sucking vampire?" He taunted.

" _I told you i'm not Dracula!_ " I yelled. " _I don't want to fight you, that's not why i'm here._ " He wasn't listening. It was probably the mask that was giving off the wrong impression. " _I don't want to do this_." I drew Punishment. As if fate didn't want this fight to happen either, Demons began creeping into the room, watching the two of us intently. As they closed in, Lance and I joined back to back creating full around security.

"The hell is this? My fight is with you." He said over his shoulder.

" _Not anymore, not even from the start. When this is over i'll explain more._ " I told him. The first Demon charged me, his blade ready to strike. I got into my stance and readied for his attack. When it came I quickly parried the blade and drove Punishment through his heart, lifting him off the ground and slamming his lifeless body into the ground at my feet. As his body disintegrated into a black smoke two more came rushing. They both slashed inward and I leaned my head back, causing their blades to collide with each other. I stepped to the side and cleaved their heads clean off, black blood spattering the floor as it evaporated on contact with their bodies fading away in a black miasma as well. Lance was dispatching his own share of man-like Demons with ease. His blade whirling around with skill. Another Demon was running up behind me. I threw a leg back kicking him in the chest as I spun around slicing his skull in two. The body evaporated like the others but no other Demons followed after their fallen friends. Instead they looked a little uneasy as they backed away from the two of us.

"What's happening?" Lance said returning to my side.

" _They've given up_?" I said though I didn't believe it. When we gave they had all fled the room there was a mysterious gust of wind that blew all the shutters closed and extinguished the candles that gave the room the little light it had. An evil, eerie laugh echoed throughout the room sending a chill down my spine. I quickly drew Sin and prepared myself for what would come next.

"He's here." Lance said.

" _Believe me now_?" I asked him.

"Looks like that talk is going to have to wait. Hold on, I see the Dark Crystal." I turned and sure enough in the next room was the source of the Darkness in this area just like the last one I encountered.

" _Go, i'll take care of things here._ " I told him. A dark fog began to fill the room nearly blinding us. Lance took off for the room when a figure began to form in front of me. I couldn't quite make it out in the fog. " _Let's clear the air a bit._ " I said. I placed the tip of Sin on the floor as I began to drag it on the floor as I spun around. I quickly twisted around and slashed Sin through the air sending a gust of air throughout the room and sending the dark smokescreen out of the now open windows. The figure across from me was just as scary as his maniacal laugh was. He stood motionless, clad in a long dark cape with an outfit that I would have seen in an old movie or a book. He wore a loose fitted collared shirt tucked into a pair of black leather pants that had two belts crisscrossing at the waist where two cutlasses were buckled at his sides. The cutlasses were scary and Demonic. The handguards looked like a mix of bone and wire with a blood red jewel at the pommel.

" _Count Dracula, never thought i'd ever have to fight you._ " I told him, watching him carefully. The count was definitely notorious back home but only in stories that I was now realizing were true. He could slay armies single handedly and bathe in the bloodbath afterwards. The way he would pillage villages, drinking the blood of young women. I was definitely in a run for my money.

"I'm not here to bothering myself with lesser prey." He told me, his voice alone sending a cold up my spine and I could feel a drop of sweat run down my back. His blood red eyes seemed like they weren't even looking at me and his pale skin glowing in the moonlight. His black hair was swept back.

" _Which is why I am your opponent._ " I told him, taunting to get his focus on me. Lance took off for the Dark Crystal and Dracula took off after him in the blink of an eye. Matching his speed I got in front of him, cutting him off.

"Get out of my way." He snarled, baring his fangs.

" _You heard what I said before_ ," Lucas entered the room and barred the door, " _I am your opponent_." I stood ready for his move.

Dracula nodded. "Fine then, your blood will paint the walls as I feed on your corpse." He drew his cutlasses, each blade wide and baring teeth. As he drew them they seemed to scream for blood, to tear through flesh to quench their thirst. He ran for me and swung his blades inward, reaching for my neck. I leaned back like before, dodging the attack only this time it was quicker. Without giving me the ability to counterattack he lept in the air and somersaulted into an axe kick toward my chest. I jumped back and went to strike before he hit the ground. When his kick landed, it shattered the floorboards beneath him, sending up dust and dirt all around. _Just as I thought, he is strong_. He leapt out from the dust straight into another attack, the tip of one of his blades shooting for my chest. I swept the attack aside and moved into a counter but that was deflected by his other blade. We went into a flurry of failed attacks and counterattacks. To us it was as simple as choreography but to a bystander it must have been a blurry whirlwind of clashing steel.

I needed to end this fight before Lance got done with the Dark Crystal so I could escape and meet back up with the Pyromancers elsewhere and not on a battlefield. I needed to clear my name somehow and I had hoped that hunting the Dark Crystals would do it. Maybe the 'wanted' thing was just a ploy to get the Demons off their backs and hunting for me instead. _In due time, Michael, in due time._ I deflected an incoming attack but instead of counterattacking, I dodged his next attack and spin kicked him in the chest sending him back. His speed increased and before I could track him he rushed to my side and kicked my in the face sending my flying into a collection of desks. I jumped out from the rubble only for him to kick me aside and right back into more desks. I stood to get ready for his next attack but he was fast. He was in front of me in a flash and kicked me in the chest sending me flying back into a railing. Below was the next floor that looked like a library. Dracula appeared next to me and swung his blade. I went to block but my hand was empty. That last kick dislodged Sin from my grasp and left it lying on the floor. I quickly spun to recover with Punishment, parrying his blade but when I spun to counter his other blade knocked my sword away and he kicked my back leg putting me on a knee. Not a second after he kicked he sent a kick at my head. I brought an arm up to block it but it still collided with enough force to knock my arm against my face and sent it banging against the railing. My vision went fuzzy and the whole room began to spin. I stood and tried to refocus but received a sharp, painful kick to my side, cracking a rib and sending my over the railing, crashing down onto a desk.

Trying to get air back into my lungs I attempted to get up, still clutching Punishment in my hand. It, too, was freed from my grasp when Dracula came crashing down on top of me, a foot stomping down on my arm breaking it through the metal gauntlet. He swung a blade at my throat and I brought my good arm up and my arm blade flung out, the hot, metal blade sending sparks as it clanged together with Dracula's evil blade. He grabbed the gauntlet and ripped it off my arm and sent it across the room. The heat in the blade dying after being severed from its source. He kicked my other arm into the desk and pinned it in place with one of his sinister cutlasses. The pain burning up my arm, my fingers going numb with pain.

"I must say, sir, you put up a good fight but now, i'm going to end this fight, and your life." His other cutlass spinning in his grasp, halted with the blade pointed downward ready to run me through. My mind was racing. What could I do? Was there anything I could do? I began to see things, flashes. In each flash I could see the faces of all my friends. Connor, Zach, Sarah, Ashley, Geoffrey, and Matthew, always competing to better me but no matter who came out on top, we always celebrated as friends but we were closer than that. I would even go as far to say we were brothers. And then there was Scarlet. Always a light in my darkness. I wasn't blind to her affections but I always saw them as a pet's affection. I left her at the manor without any form of knowing what was going to happen tonight. I couldn't imagine- didn't want to imagine the look on her face when I didn't return, how hurt she would be. I wasn't going to let that happen.

All the pain in my body had faded, gone numb in the heat of the moment. I flew my head back removing the hood and sending the mask up on my face just enough to reveal my mouth. I took a deep breath, ignoring the screaming from my broken rib. I sent the air out with a sharp exhale, embers flying in all directions as a massive plume of fire erupted from my lips right into Dracula's face. He screamed as he jumped off me and onto another desk behind him.

"You dirty, bloody Pyro'! You'll pay for that!" He screamed, rage in his blood red eyes. He readied his only cutlass remaining as his other still pinned me to the desk. He was about to leap at me to finish the job when an explosion sounded from upstairs, a pillar of flame shooting up into the sky. What got me was it wasn't the only one. Multiple pillars of flame shot into the sky, piercing the dark clouds that circled over their source but from my position I couldn't tell how many.

" _It's about time._ " I mumbled. My vision was growing blurry as the pain returned as I could sense the fight was dying down.

"Until next time-"

" _Michael._ " I interrupted. He huffed.

"Honorable _and_ dirty." he said. He held his hand out and his blade flew from my arm, obeying his command, sending pain up to my shoulder. When he sheathed his blades he was immediately surrounded. A group of four Pyromancers holding their weapons of varying types and sizes. The images were a blur as my vision failed to cooperate with me. I could hear him laugh as a woman ordered him to surrender, and he disappeared in a flurry of shadowy bats, classic. One of them approached me as the other three secured the surrounding area.

"Get Lance, this one's still breathing. Hurry, his arm is cursed!" She said. And my vision abandoned me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Pyromancers**

I awoke in yet another hospital bed only instead of the usual Matthew and Ashley at my side it was the Pyromancer I met with Dracula and a woman I haven't seen before. My head and arm were bandaged and my broken arm were in a splint and sling while the other was stitched up and wrapped in a bandage. My chest had been wrapped but the rib still hurt when I tried to sit up. It was the woman who stopped me, as always.

"Don't move, you're still recovering." she said, her voice light and sweet. Her hair was short and brown. Her outfit seemed rather agile with a tight long sleeve shirt with short shorts and a pair of stockings that reached up about two inches from her shorts to cover most of the skin that would have been rather revealing from her shorts. Her knee high combat boots complimented her outfit well, going great with her shorts and stockings. The sleeves of her shirt had holes in the end for her thumbs which she took advantage of. She looked rather young and was about a good head shorter than the man next to her. I couldn't help but think she was really cute but decided not to think on it long when I noticed the two massive pistols strapped to her thighs. She put her hands on my shoulders and gently pushed me back onto my pillow.

"You should see the other guy." I said sarcastically. I've been through the motions more than I wanted to be but it still didn't make me any more cautious with my actions.

"Oh, we did, and we can't say we're impressed." The man put in. He walked across to the other side of my bed so as I could see him better.

"Lance!" she shot him a glare."We can't say that we _aren't_ either." the girl said, giving Lance a look."Not everybody goes one-on-one with _the_ Count Dracula and survives to tell about it." she said.

"Well, it's what I do." I said, getting confused looks from the both of them.

"And what exactly is it that you do? And who are you?" Lance questioned, breaking the silence.

"My name is Michael. I'm a Demon Hunter." I said. Even more confused looks."How long was I out for?" I asked. It was a moment before the woman broke the silence.

"Six days."

"SIX DAYS!?" I yelled shooting up again. My chest screamed at me."Scarlet!" The woman stopped me again and this time Lance helped her.

"Stop, it's okay. You were muttering in your sleep as we were bringing you here. You were muttering about a manor and not leaving Scarlet. We brought her here shortly after. She's waiting to see you." the door opened and Scarlet came bursting in rushing to my side nearly knocking Lance over in the process.

"Oh, Michael, I was so worried! They came to the manor and when they told me about you I lost it!" she was sobbing into my bandages.

"Scarlet, calm down, i'm okay." I tried to calm her.

"No, you're not okay! Look at you!" she went on. I silenced her when I placed my better hand on her cheek.

"Hey. I'm okay." she blushed under my hand and her face became hot. She quickly turned away with her hands on her cheeks as mine became a light red as well. Even with her new form she was still rather small and it only added to how adorable and cute she looked.

"I don't want to interrupt the reunion but we still have matters to discuss." Lance spoke up, the situation making him shift uncomfortably and the lady had her hands clasped and to her cheek as she smiled in awe. The door opened once again and another woman walked in with a lab coat on and a clipboard in her hands.

"He's good to go." she said before walking back out.

"Okay, well your gear is all here along with a change of clothes." Lance pulled a weapons case and a bag out from under the bed."When you're ready meet us outside." and Lance and his friend were out the door. Leaving Scarlet and I alone.

"Help me up?" I asked Scarlet, struggling to sit up and move out of bed. She was quick to rush to my side and help me up, taking my good arm in one hand and placing another on my waist hoisting me up. When I was out of bed I moved over to the things Lance had pulled out with the help of Scarlet as she guided me as I staggered along.

"I don't think they are really sure you are ready." she said, the concern weighing heavily in her voice.

"You mean _you_ don't?" I corrected. She was always such a worry-wart even if she couldn't speak back then.

"Precisely. You really push yourself too hard and very carelessly if I might add."

"You might if the opponent was anything lesser than a Vampire king."

"You know what I mean." We reached the bench with the gear and I opened up the bag and pulled out a black turtleneck, black jeans with red embroidery that resembled flames, and a small red cape with a black emblem similar to the one on Lance's clothes.

"They expect me to wear this?" I gawked at the puny cape and thought of how silly I would look.

"I think it's just their way of saying you're a part of the club now." Scarlet chimed.

"Well it saves me the trouble of bugging them about joining forces." with the help of Scarlet I quickly got changed and didn't dare miss how red she got in the process. I stopped her when she went to drape the small cape over my shoulders and had her tie it around my waist, leaving it hanging down to my left knee. The emblem of the Pyromancers still showing to humor them. Getting back into my boots we moved to the gear in the case. Scarlet struggled to hoist off the bench and I helped her with my good arm.

"It's okay, I got this one." I took the handle from her hands and easily lifted the case off the bench and flinging it onto the bed.

"Ill help you with this too." she said. I unlatched the case and flung the lid open to reveal all of my gear I had that night including my missing gauntlet and sword. Everything in its respective sheaths and holsters. Scarlet hoisted the swords onto my back and slid a gauntlet onto the only arm that would accept such equipment. I took the belt with my guns and handed it to Scarlet to fit it on. When I turned my back to her she practically lit up the room like she usually would. Eventually I heard her take a step forward and I felt the clips of the belt on my waist as they were dragged around to meet each other. When the belt was fitted her hands didn't move and her arms tightened their grasp around my torso and she rested her head on my upper back. I could feel a tear drip down my spine.

"Scarlet," I said, wanting to turn to her and comfort her some more but her grip was tough yet gentle,"i'm sorry. I was only thinking of myself when I left and didn't stop to wonder how you felt. It was selfish and I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry." I grew more guilty as the tears created a stream down my back. It felt like I had betrayed her, like I had let her down. How could I blame her. I almost died that night and she wouldn't have even known. She would have waited all night and not realise that I wasn't going to come back when morning came. I placed my hand on hers and then she spoke.

"I'm sorry too." I turned my head only to find it futile since she was behind me."I've caused you pain too. I can feel it in your heart." There we were, two people saddened and hurt because they hurt the other. I wanted to comfort her, to make her glow with that warm light she always shone again. Then there was a knock on the door.

"Almost done in there? There are people who need to speak with you." Lance called from outside the room. The knock made Scarlet jump and blush a deep red, embarrassed that her little moment had been interrupted. She quickly fixed the buckles around my legs fastening the holsters to my thighs.

"Yeah just a sec'!" I called back. I turned to Scarlet and wiped a tear that had settled on her cheek."I promise, I won't leave you alone again." I meant it and she knew it.

"I'm going to hold you to that. I care too much about you to lose you." This was my cue to blush this time.

"Ready?" When she nodded I headed for the door with her right on my tail. I swung the door open to find Lance and his friend waiting patiently in the hallway. Well, she was anyway.

"'Bout time. Let's go." With that he took off down the hall with the woman in stride. I eyed her curiously as I followed.

"I didn't get your name at all." I told her. She looked over at me with shock as if she had insulted me in some way. She was rather adorable, kind of like a child.

"Oh! I'm sorry! My name's Violet. It's a pleasure to meet you." She did a small, mock curtsy. She seemed very playful the way she acted so young.

"The pleasures all mine. So, Lance, was it? Where are we headed?" I asked him, keeping pace with his stride.

"You are to meet my team chief. She was the one who rescued you six days ago." When he said 'days' my stomach began to vibrate and gurgle so loud it was as if it was talking on its own."Lucky enough she's meeting us in the dining hall." Violet tried to stifle a giggle.

"Your team chief? Why do I need to meet her?"

"She has been put in charge of looking after you since we found you in our dark zone."

"I see. What kind of things is she going to ask me?"

"That is for us to know, and for you to find out." We reached the entrance to the infirmary and pushed our way out of the double doors leading outside. The sun shine caused me to squint and I was blinded for a good minute before my eyes adjusted. There was actually sunlight, and the sky was blue. There was no sign of any dark clouds or any Demonic activity in the sky at all.

"What-" I started

"The night we found you the Pyromancers launched a full scale counterattack. We drove them out." Lance explained.

"You actually helped us out with with that." Violet added."See, we didn't actually know where to start and when you just appeared out of the blue like you did it forced us into action. And so, welcome to the Pyromancer's Guild!" She spread her arms out and gestured to everything that was going on around us. People in similar dark and red garb walked around the grassy courtyards, bartered at the marketplace, and sparred in fighting pits. The buildings were palace-like with flags and banners flapping in the wind. The main building, the Grand Court, stood in the center of it all. Its tall spires and towers piercing the sky. The main tower was taller than the rest and sprouted from the center of the building and at the top was an open balcony all around. I could only wonder what was up there.

"Glad I could be of some help." I told her. I went to scratch my head but flinched when I realised it was still broken, the cast and sling holding it in place. I stumbled around feeling drowsy as we walked and tried to focus. I attempted to gather my energy to heal my wounds but it only made my head hurt and I felt even more light headed. Lance noticed my failing attempts to gather my strength and handed me something: a pack of cigarettes.

"Here, try these." He said shaking the pack.

"No thanks, I don't smoke." I told him.

"Their not for you, their for your power. Pyromancers all have a method of fueling their engines and it's just a hunch but this could be your gasoline." He said. I stared at him for a second contemplating on wether I should do it or not. I finally shrugged and he shook one out of the pack and I took it. I put it to my lips and Lance put the pack away after taking one for himself.

"Is that why you smoke?" I asked him. I assumed it was a common method of meditation.

"No, I smoke to smoke. Like I said, it's just a hunch." With that he snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared on the tip of his thumb. _Neat_. He lit mine first and then his own and I took a good long drag before I began to feel a warmth in my chest. I took a few more as Lance, Violet, and Scarlet all watched. I felt myself getting stronger and I channeled all my new-found energy evenly throughout my body but mainly focusing on my arms and chest. My eyes shot open as the pain returned as the bone welded together and the large gash cauterized. I dropped to my knees as soon as the broken rib began to heal and merge back into place. The pain set my whole body on fire as my nerves exploded and burned. My mind went blank and I nearly fainted when the pain subsided and everything around me came into focus again. Scarlet had her hands on my cheeks and was calling my name while Lance and Violet looked at me in shock. I tossed the cigarette but on the ground, only the filter left, and stood up with the help of Scarlet.

"Are you okay?" Scarlet asked, one arm around my waist and a hand on my chest. She really did like being close to me and I didn't mind.

"I'm okay, i'm good." I told everyone. I was panting now. All the wounds I sustained that night were now gone. The stitches in my arm were burned away leaving my as good as new. I ignited the cast on my other arm and it blew away in the wind in ashes.

"As I thought," Lance said,"instant regeneration." I stared at him and waited for an explanation."You absorb heat and channel it into raw power. Pretty impressive, i've only known of certain people who can use that ability."

"How did you…?" I began.

"When we picked you up that night we noticed something on our way back. All your minor surface wounds healed, rapidly. I assumed it did not heal the more major injuries because you were unconscious." He said.

"I put everything I had into that fight." I said," He was tough."

"We know." Lance said."Keep the pack, let's get a move on." We continued down through an open bazaar of weapon stalls and food courts. The air smelt of fresh bread and cooking meat and the weapons on display showed both power and elegance. They sold a variety of blades of all lengths and shapes and the guns they sold were similar to my own but different in design. Violet explained that the wielders would channel their energy into the weapon and fire that instead of bullets. Lance then explained that they even sold hybrids of blade and firearm and the skill and technique that goes into wielding one.

"Do either of you wield one?" I asked the two of them. Lance drew a fancy and elegant cylinder from his belt and it extended into the double bladed weapon he had before. It did not operate as a firearm but it did split at the center into two blades. Violet drew her pistols and flashed them in a demonstrating manner. They were rather large with an intricate design with two massive collapsible bayonets for close encounters.

Still feeling a little light headed I pulled out another cigarette and lit it myself this the end of the bazaar we arived at the Mess Hall, one of the larger of the buildings. Upon entering I glanced around the room, my instincts pointing out all the exits. The inside was massive with large round tables and chairs all around with different counters to purchase food from. Men and women clad in abrons walking around with trays delivering drinks and plates of assorted foods to the occupied tables. We approached one of the smaller tables where a single woman was seated as she waited for her order. Her outfit confused me for a minute but I soon recognized the face.

"Serah?"

"Hello, Michael." she said, ignoring my surprise.

"You're a Pyromancer?" I asked her.

"You didn't know?" now she was acting surprised. How airheaded was this girl?

"What!? Of course not! How was I supposed to know you were a Pyromancer? You didn't tell me squat!" I was once again ignored.

"Take a seat please. I'll call the waitress over so you can have a drink." What is with this girl?

"Fine." I wasn't getting anything out of her anyway.

"I see you've healed yourself." She observed. "So you gave him the pack as I instructed after all?" She was speaking to Lance now.

"Of course I did. Besides, he was slowing us down. It was becoming a real pain watching him hobble around like a casualty." He responded, it sounded like he was trying to sound like he did it for his own reasons and not just because she told him too. What an asshole.

"In my defense I was a casualty." I cut in, earning a glare from Lance and a giggle from Violet. The waitress was with us shortly to take our orders. When we were all finished she rushed off to turn them in. Serah went and ordered for me since I had yet to be acquainted with the menu.

"So tell me, what happened to your arm?" Serah asked. Short, sweet, and to the point type of person I realize.

"What about it?" I asked nonchalantly.

"When did it start looking like it did when I spoke with you at the manor?" Her comment shocked me. I didn't think she was that perceptive. Then again, she did seem pretty harmless when those Demons were trying to rape her. I should be careful around her.

"A week ago." I told her bluntly.

"How did that happen?" Lance cut in, sipping on the water another waiter had dropped off for us while we waited.

"I don't even know. I was battling a Demon and he injured my hand."

"He?" It was Violet's turn to ask a question. Crap, i'm giving out a lot of information to these people and I barely know them. They are really good at reading people. Though I suppose these are my allies now. We have a common enemy, a common goal.

"Is it safe to discuss this here?" I asked Serah who was almost done with her second glass of water and halfway through the bowl of strange chips in the center of the table. She didn't seem to care about who was listening at all. I suppose driving out an invasion of Demons does bring that kind of confidence. But I don't think that was the case with her. She was just weird.

"Well I would take us someplace more secure but i'm starving~!" She said. Yeah, she's definitely as strange as they come.

"You didn't answer my question…" Violet pouted, apparently sad that I had answered both of the other's questions but not hers. I couldn't help but notice again how adorable she was.

"His name is Lucas. I believe he's the Guardian of Darkness sent to lead the Demon army." This drew surprised looks from both Lance and Violet but not Serah who seemed to not hear me being too focused on looking for the waitress who was supposed to be bringing us our food. "Nicole, did you hear me? I said-"

"Lucas, Guardian of Darkness, leader of the Demon army. Yeah I heard you." She interrupted. I don't know how I am going to get used to how careless she is. I suppose that's why Lance has such a problem with her. At least, I think he does. He seems to act that way.

"So you know him?" This got her to look at me finally. Her ash-colored eyes scanning me, reading me.

"You fought THE Reaper?" Violet asked. I'm surprised her jaw didn't come crashing down onto the table.

"Reaper? Oh you mean because of the scythe? Yeah, I fought him. He was tough."

"And for good reason, but his Deathscythe is not the only reason he is called the Reaper." Lance chimed in. "He is said to be the reincarnation and the descendant of the Great One, Death."

"Well he is powerful, and fast. It was hard to keep up with him almost. In fact, I only faced something that looked like him, a shadow."

"So you didn't fight him them?" Nicole asked a little more interested than she was earlier.

"Not exactly, no, not me anyway." I told her.

"But you were there i'm assuming? Those kinds of abilities usually require you to be nearby."

"Yes, it happened really fast." I said to her staring at my hands.

" I feel bad for you." Lance said.

"What?" I looked up at him.

"How did he do it?"

"Do what?"

"Decapitation, dismemberment, or did his shadow just run you through?" He leaned in focusing on me as if the answer were written on my face. "This is Eden after all. Y'know, the Demon Realm, the Afterlife."

"Wha- no! I'm not dead!" I told him. More like yelled it. It seemed to frustrate me that he would underestimate me like that even with how powerful we all knew Lucas to be.

"What do you mean?" Violet said, her face of half worry and half confusion.

"A friend of mine transported my partner and I here." I told her, regaining my composure. I could feel Scarlet slightly squeezing my arm.

"Transported you? How is that possible?" Serah was a lot more interested now but I could see the waitress coming with our food.

"Just a minute." I said, stalling until the waitress finished delivering our meals. Serah had ordered quite a large platter of assorted fruits, Lucas got a small order of some sort of sweet smelling vegetable, Violet received something similar, and my plate was full of neatly arranged meats, all of them marinated in a variety of sauces and spices. When she was gone I continued. "Like I said, my friend was able to use his power to send me here." The trio exchanged looks before turning back to me.

"An Aeromancer?" they all asked in unison. I was a little set back by their surprise.

"Is that what you would call him?" I was not familiar with the different leagues and guilds of Eden.

"He controlled wind, right?" Violet asked me.

"Yes, it was really amazing what he could do." I thought back to the desert when he stole our bounty on the giant worm Demon we were sent to investigate.

"But, I thought they were all extinct." Lance said only not to me but to Serah.

"Well if he's telling the truth then apparently not." she responded.

"He is telling the truth! Joe controls the wind." Scarlet told them.

"This changes everything." Lance said. He stuffed a piece of his food in his mouth and chewed as he pondered it more.

"The last Aeromancer, if we could get into contact with him then we could turn the tide of the war." Violet spoke to her teammates. "The king will want to know about this. He needs to know."

"We'll get to that, in fact, Lance go and see if you can get us a meeting with the council." Serah ordered Lance who quickly finished his plate and got up to leave. "Michael, can you get into contact with your friend?"

"I don't know. I've tried a couple of times since we were separated but I couldn't get to him through the interference caused by the Demonic aura." I told her. I really hoped he was doing okay. At least as good as I was.

"Can you try now?"

"I could but I need the rest of the gear you recovered off me that night. Specifically the earpiece and microphone."

"Okay, I think we still have it. Is there anything else?" She asked me, ready to give anything she could to assist in getting into contact with yet another ally. I looked to Scarlet before I answered.

"I need to get back to Dragoon manor."

"What?!" Violet seemed very distraught I would ask such a thing.

"It's okay, Vi. Michael, might I ask why?" She too seemed very confused.

"I still have questions I need answered."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author Update:**

 **Okay so, Just finished this chapter the other day so the chapters won't be flying up onto the web like they have been. Sorry, it's just that I've had all chapters up to now already done pretty much so now it's on to the brainstorming and the writer's block crap again. I hope I don't displease any of you by my lack of focus and ability to create scenes on the spot but I promise that I will commit to getting these chapters to you guys ASAP. I hope you enjoy this one, I did, and go ahead and get back to me if you have any questions. Really, I need the reviews.**

 **Chapter 11: Answers and Even More Questions**

Serah, Violet, Scarlet, and I all arrived at Dragoon manor in a couple of hours. It still stood tall as it did when I first arrived. Only difference was it seemed to look more alive everyday. As I observed the manor this time I noticed smoke billowing from a chimney.

"You're certain nobody lives here?" I turned and asked Serah who was cautiously observing the manor.

"Yes, i'm certain." She seemed pretty in awe of the place. It's lore would give her good reason. They were considered deities. We entered and took a look around the main chambers of the building. We again confirmed that it was empty and felt a little more comfortable with it being so but at the same time it was still a little unnerving. Why was it so active if it was deserted? For me, strangely, I felt a little at home. I walked into the lounge to check the fireplace only to find it cold and bare.

"Where is that smoke coming from?" I asked myself but Scarlet answered anyway.

"Is there a similar room somewhere else?" She walked back out into the large hallway and met back up with Serah who had come back from downstairs.

"Are there any rooms below?" She asked me. I recalled the staircase leading downstairs to the armory and thought that there might be another staircase somewhere else.

"There's the armory but it doesn't have one. Check for hidden passages in the walls." They exited back out into the hallway and began scanning the walls for anything out of place. I decided to take a moment to think and lit a cigarette. After the first hit I walked over to the empty fireplace to shake off the ashes and felt a breeze and smelt smoke. Upon further inspection, I found that the floor to the fireplace was actually a grate. "It must be below me." I surveyed the room and noticed a lone end table in the corner of the room. I pushed it aside and found a secret hatch in the floor with a ladder leading down below.

"Aha" I exclaimed. I descended the ladder into a rather large room lit only by a distant fireplace in the back of the room. The dim light illuminated a wall of shelves full of all kinds of books. I took a step off the ladder. As if detecting my presence, torches and lanterns all around the room came to life, lighting up as they came to life from their cold slumber.

"This place ceases to confuse me." I said to myself as I continued to enter the large room. I wanted to call it a library due to all the books but it was more like a study. There was a large desk in the back of the room directly in front of the massive fireplace, complete with a big, comfy looking chair. A feather and ink well sat on the corner of the desk, and the front of the desk was decorated with the same Dragon crest that has continued to provide me with more questions than answers. In the center of the study was a wide, triangular table. I approached the table and placed a hand on its surface, not a spec of dust on it. On contact with the smooth wood, the wall to my left lit up like a christmas tree. I quickly spun to see what it was that was going to make my head smoke this time and froze. It was a massive family tree. Many branches connecting in multiple lines descending toward the bottom as it got wider while men found wives and women found husbands, and then their children continued the bloodline. At the very top, two faces sat to begin the upside down tree. Though one, a man of masculinity and formality, sat proud and noble, the face next to him scratched out, torn from the wall. His wife had passed on. The inscription under the man's face, read Satan.

As I continued to observe the tree I realized the same was for everyone on the tree. Every generation torn from the wall. I frantically searched the wall for someone who still lived, who we could turn to. But not a single face remained that I could find, until I reached the bottom where there was one space left not yet filled with a face or name. I searched the rest of the tree and to my surprise there was still one face left, just one generation below Satan himself. A pale man with long dark hair, his bangs swept from his eyes. Though, the name underneath was scratched from the wall.

"Where did you go off to, I wonder?" My gaze returned to the blank space at the end of the tree. "And you as well? Where are you in our time of need?" I placed my hand on the blank parchment and my hand was forced to the wall. My arm filled with a burning pain and the black curse mark on my hand grew intensely. The black seeping through the veins up my arm until they rushed back to my hand and the black mass began to form an image on the back of my hand, a pentagram. The five pointed star in the center of a circle grew black then began to glow a dark red. The pain was causing my vision to blur no matter how much I tried to hold onto my consciousness. I didn't realize it but I was screaming. Screaming so loud my throat felt like it was tearing. The three girls I came here with were already in the room rushing to my side. Violet was watching the entrance for anyone who might show up, Serah helping Scarlet who was trying to pry me from the wall. The pentagram was acting, and feeling, like a nail, holding me to the wall. A really strong nail. The pentagram's light began to fade, and that black ink began to dissipate only this time it was an actual fluid form. It leaked from my hand and dripped to the floor and I was finally released from the wall with Serah, Scarlet, and I flying backwards. The three of us got up rubbing our heads. I rubbed the back of my head after I smacked it on the hardwood floor. Just before the throbbing stopped, a familiar voice echoed in my head.

" _Welcome home, young one._ "

I shook my head to try to clear it from my thoughts.

" _Welcome home_ …" It echoed again. As the voice faded the other frantic voices of my companions could be heard again.

"Michael! Michael, what happened!?" Scarlet and Serah were frantically calling out to me. Everything happened so fast and all of a sudden I'm not even sure myself what was going on.

"I'm fine, I'm okay." I told them but it was obvious they didn't believe me.

"What in the Flame!?" It was Violet, though she wasn't as concerned about me as she was with whatever she was looking at. We all followed her gaze to the wall and in the last empty space on the bottom of the tree, was my face.

"You've desecrated sacred ground!" Violet turned towards me, one of her revolvers aimed at my chest.

"Violet, calm down. I'm sure this wasn't his fault!" She gestured to the ground where the black ink-like substance remained on the floor. "It must have had something to do with the curse."

"Oh come on, what kind of curse is that?" She yelled back.

"I've never seen something like this before either!" Serah turned to me, "I'm sorry, Michael, most people are very territorial of this place. The Dragoons were our protectors, our saviors."

"I understand." I told them both, "and I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It just seems like the more answers I try to find about all this I just keep getting more questions instead." Violet began to cry and Serah rubbed her shoulders to comfort her more.

"I'm sorry, Michael. This war has been hard on everyone, as you can tell."

"What happened to the Dragoons, exactly?" I pryed. There had to be something more to have upset everyone so much more. She spent a minute to make sure Vi was okay before she explained.

"Michael, have you ever had anyone you looked up to just leave; walk out of your life and never say a word?" This gave a confusing and unexpected twist to the conversation.

"I mean, I never knew my parents."

"I'm sorry to say this is different than that, Michael." She took another moment to watch how Vi would react.

"Talk to me, Serah." I pushed. Scarlet put a hand on my arm and held it close, asking me to be cautious.

"When the Demons invaded the Fire Realm, everyone was confident we had it under control. We even pushed the Demons back as far as the edge of the Realm. Then the Demons changed tactics. They began hitting us, hard. Not by skirmishes or small battles, but by hunting key leaders." She stopped to look back to the Dragoon family tree. She looked at every name as if she knew them personally. "The Pyromancers, hell, even the Dragoons weren't ready for them. They were hunted and killed, one by one. The Demons got a hold of their families, forced them to surrender. Eventually the Dragoons were hunted to the point of extinction until all that was left was Satan. We don't know how they were able to do it. How they were able to find them, their families. But they did. And Satan couldn't handle it. After all the remaining Dragoons were wiped off the map, Satan left. Vanished without a trace." Vi began to violently sob again and Scarlet escorted her out of the room. "We lost our hero and our hope that day."

"What about this?" I gestured to the empty space at the bottom now filled with my face. "These two must have had a child, an heir. Where did they go?" Serah took a long look at the names of the two parents of the missing heir: Krow, the father, and Elizabeth, the mother.

"There was no record they ever had a child. They must have made a space in expectation. If they ever did however, the child was probably killed with its parents." That was a sad thought to leave off on. We were interrupted by Lance who came storming in with Violet and Scarlet right behind him.

"What's going on in here?" He asked looking around to all of us.

"I'll explain later." Serah told him. "How did it go with the council?"

"The council has considered a meeting, but they won't see him." He told her as he comforted Violet.

"What, why? Did you tell them he has information on The Reaper?"

"Of course I did! But it seems someone else has taken a greater interest in him."

"Someone else? Who?"

"They are sending him to see the Oracle." There was an ominous silence in the room as the three of them just stood there in shock. Violet stopped crying, Serah and Lance just stared at eachother, and Scarlet and I exchanged equally confused looks.

"Who's this Oracle?" Scarlet spoke up. The break in the silence caused Serah to jump. Something my first impression of her told me that was rare.

"It's not exactly a who but a what. It's hard to explain. Nobody sees the Oracle without good reason and nobody wants to." She said.

"Why?" I asked.

"The Oracle appears as the thing you fear most. Of course it's different for everybody and it usually ends badly." Lance put in.

"It's fuel for children's nightmares." Violet shuddered. Scarlet and I exchanged more looks as she clung tightly to my arm. I couldn't imagine what she could possibly be thinking about but I could tell it wasn't anywhere close to good while my mind swam with images of Lucas. The notoriously feared Reaper who everyone has been hunting for but hoped to their Gods they would never find him.

"This ought to be interesting." I said to myself.

"Indeed." Serah commented. As we all got up to leave I took one last glimpse at the family tree where the three remaining faces stared lifelessly back at me: The nameless Dragoon, the missing link in all this mystery with no known role to play.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: The Oracle**

Once we were able to calm Vi down we made our way up and out of Dragoon manor and back down toward the town. We walked for what seemed like eternity with all the anxiety of this 'Oracle'. This embodiment or representation of everybody's inner darkness. Yet they obviously deem it useful in some way seeing as how they haven't slain it. I have tried to get more information about it from all three of them but they didn't seem too inclined to describe their experiences in great detail. As soon as I saw the same glimpse of complete terror in each of their eyes I stopped my pestering.

We walked through the town and the busy crowds until we came, once again to the gates of the Pyromancer's Guild. The tall spires looming overhead watching over the people. The knight-like guards allowing us access, acknowledging our authorization as Pyromancers. I found this odd though. Surely there was some entrance ceremony I had to go through to be formally accepted into their ranks like I had to go through in getting my membership in Demon Control after I was working under Dante back when he hunted Demons before settling down from lack of actual income. Even though it was the pay that drove him to open up a cafe he constantly denied special requests to join Demon Control. I never understood why but I could only assume he was just tired.

We walked through the gates and back across the beautiful courtyards with its fountains and flower gardens, passed the Mess Hall, and approached the large cathedral-like main building.

"Where is this?" I asked Serah, still trying to map out the entire grounds in my head.

"This is the Palace. This is where the council and our King resides. This is where all their meetings go on and such." She informed me as she gestured to the tall, massive double-doors. "The Oracle is located underneath the Palace." She approached the giant entrance and the large doors opened upon approach. We funneled into the main hall and Scarlet and I took a moment to just take in all the elegant and intricate design. Eight columns, four on each side, appeared to hold up the ceiling. A long, red rug leading us down the center of the wide chamber and at the end of the red trail sat a tall throne. As much as the anticipation was building up I was disappointed to find the throne bare with no person the occupy the empty space.

"Welcome to the King's Chamber or the 'Hall of the Council' ". Serah explained. We took a few more steps forward we were met by footsteps quickly approaching from our left. I turned and was met with an angry gaze by Flame, his mantle flapping behind him he was moving so fast.

"You!" he exclaimed furiously. I looked around at everybody else who seemed to be expecting a heated blasting from Flame.

"Me?" I pointed to myself since he didn't seem to be looking at the rest of us.

"Who do you think you are to interfere with our plans? Do you realize that without the help of the Pyromancers, if we hadn't stepped in ahead of schedule, you could have been responsible for the execution of so many lives!" He took three more steps towards me and everyone else took a step back except me. I knew how this game was played. Intimidate the new guy. I stood my ground.

"Well when I got it here it seemed like you needed a little push!" I told him. "How long were you going to let the Demons run around as they pleased raping your Pyromancers and harassing your people?" I took a step forward. "If anything you should be thanking me for helping you!"

"Helping us? Why you ignorant little-"

"FLAME!" Flame was interrupted by a booming voice from the end of the chamber. We all turned and saw a tall, burly man donned in gold armor and a red mantle. His beard only added to the masculinity of his face and character. His brown, curly hair swept back so as not to obstruct the posture of the crown on his head. His red eyes piercing Flame.

At his arrival and acknowledgment of his being here everyone stood to attention and slammed a fist to their chest, bowing slightly.

"YOUR MAJESTY!" They said in unison, leaving me standing there looking dumb. I looked around at everybody and was about to mimic the salute when the King was moving toward us. Someone was in for a real, hard earned ass chewing. _I just hope it's not me_. Flame glared up at me from his formal salute.

"Bow you fool!" He snarled at me and bowed lower. I was about to forget the King and just mop the floor with Flame but the King was already here.

"Flame!" He boomed.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" He looked up from his bow now staring at the King who reached a hand out and slapped Flame right across with a backhand; a ten-out-of-ten in my eyes.

"What is wrong with your head?! This man aided in driving out the Demons! He practically saved this Realm and its people!" The ass chewing continued.

"Your Majesty, this _man_ interfered with an ongoing Pyromancer opera-"

"Silence! He is not to be apprehended or harmed! Is that understood?" The King's gaze was drilling into Flames heart. I could almost feel both of their powers rising.

"Understood, my Lord." Flame ground his teeth but fell into a deep bow.

"Very good. Now," He turned to us, his expression changing from pure, concentrated hatred and disgust to welcoming and comforting, "I must ask you to forgive my Commander. He tends to get a little anxious around new Pyromancers." He extended his arm out gesturing down the the rest of the path.

"It's nothing I can't handle, Your Highness." I shrugged.

"Oh, I'm sure!" He chuckled. His laugh was hearty and booming. "I understand you just arrived from the Human world just about a week ago?"

"That's right. The Demons have already begun their invasion into my world. I've come to help in eliminating the Demons here as best I can to draw them back into their own world. If we strike them close to home while they are spread out, they'll come rushing back to defend, and that's when we end it." We made our way along the red path towards the large throne as we spoke.

"It's a good plan, but the Demons' numbers, and sizes, are quite massive. They are devious in their tactics, and they have friends everywhere." He informed me.

"Yes I'm aware, that's why I need to find my friend I arrived with. We were separated when we first showed up."

"I promise we will help you in finding your team but right now you have a very important appointment to attend to. One that will shine some light on all of this. For you and for us." His saying this brought back the deep pondering of what was going to happen. We arrived at the King's throne and he quickly approached it and reached under one of the arms to flip a switch. He took a couple steps back as the throne began to slide forward revealing a passageway underneath the throne room. There were no lights or anything to help guide one down into the dark abyss and a dark fog seemed to permeate the walls. "You mustn't keep the Oracle waiting." He urged.

"O-of course. I shall return, Your Majesty." I took one last glimpse at Scarlet who had the most worried look out of all the rest of my new friends. I turned to finally descend into the unknown darkness when I was interrupted one last time. Serah grasped my shoulder to stop me.

"Your weapons, you won't need them." She stepped back and joined everyone else again as I disarmed and finally took my first steps into the black cave. When I far enough down, the throne slid shut behind me.

Scarlet turned to Serah who was staring blankly at the throne. Looking as though she was staring through it into the dark pit Michael just entered. Ever since that night Michael went off by himself she couldn't get the thought out of her head that he wouldn't have gotten hurt if she was with him. They were the perfect team in her eyes. She knew it. They practiced endlessly their technique to perfection.

"Scarlet, are you okay?" Serah was trying to get her attention.

"Oh, yes! I'm quite alright!" She quickly told her. She turned to face Serah, the decision firmly embedded in her thought process. "Serah, could you change me back?"

"What?" Serah was dumbfounded. Why would she want to change back? She could do so much more now. Was she not used to it yet?

"I want to change back into a pixie. I'm more useful to Michael that way."

So it's for him. Of course it was. Serah couldn't think of any other time he wouldn't be on her mind. She was practically at his side 24/7 and when she wasn't her whole world seemed to flip upside down. "What is he to you?"

"I beg your pardon?" It was Scarlet's turn to be baffled. She had never had somebody ask her that before. She was close to Michael. Closer than family, she felt. Why was she asking? Was she interested in him? Did she want to get close to him? The thought of another woman getting all touchy-feely with Michael infuriated her.

"You love him, don't you?" Amusement filled Serah's eyes and Violet started to get excited from overhearing the conversation. Scarlet stumbled over her words trying to come up with a response but could only look sadly into Serah's eyes. "What's wrong. Have you told him? Did he shoot you down?"

"No, that's not it. I-I haven't...told him. He doesn't know-and he doesn't have to! I just want to be with him again, to protect him." Serah pondered this for a moment before saying anything.

"It's none of my business and I will grant you your wish, but on one condition." Scarlet looked a little anxious as to what Serah could mean.

"What is that?"

"How did you meet?" Scarlet couldn't respond but only looked away, trying to hide herself from the group. She hated being like this. She wanted to go back to normal, back to being practically mute. The only person she ever truly enjoyed being in the company of was Michael. "I-I'm sorry Scarlet I didn't mean to bring up anything you didn't want to talk about." Serah said realizing she hit a soft spot in Scarlet somewhere. She didn't think it would be a touchy subject rather a lovable one. One she thought Scarlet enjoyed remembering.

"It's fine, i'm sorry. I just- Michael tells it better." Scarlet lied. Whenever Michael told the story she wasn't there for it, if he ever told it at all. She hated her past and wished she could forget it but Michael made it better for her. He helped her to live with it. She just needed to let go on her own which was the issue.

"Then don't you worry about it then. Now, hold still!" Serah put her hands on Scarlet's cheeks and began softly chanting to herself. Her hands began to glow a dim red and Scarlet could feel her body begin to levitate.

The dark corridor seemed to last forever. I could barely see my own hand a foot from my face. I reached a hand out and it became engulfed in fire. To my surprise the corridor I had been walking through this entire time ended about five minutes ago. Now, I stood in the center of a dark chamber. As if detecting the little light that I gave off in the room, several torches mounted to the walls began to ignite on their own revealing eight columns hold up the ceiling and a tall mirror in the center of the room. Several candles of varying sizes ignited instantly on my arrival showing off the eerie design of the mirror. I lowered my hand and the flame burned out. I placed myself in front of the mirror and I couldn't see any reflection. It was as if the glass was made of steel. The warm glisten of the candlelight seemed almost hypnotic. I heard a scurrying noise behind me. I quickly turned to try and see what it was but there was nothing there. I turned back to look at the mesmerizing mirror and was startled to see my reflection. It moved as I moved and looked as I did but there was something very disturbing about it. I heard yelling behind me and I quickly spun around to see. I was in a tall. dark forest. The rain was coming down so hard it almost hurt. I could make out the yelling as soldiers yelling commands over their communicators. Tall, large fires burned all around me. Dead trees lay all around me all burnt to a crisp and still burning. I looked to the ground and could tiny, little, lifeless figures. I remembered this scene. This was when I got the markings.

"No." I told myself as I walked over to the one I didn't ever want to see. I walked over and cradled Scarlet limp form in my hands. "Not you! I promised I would protect you! Scarlet, I'm so sorry!" I didn't know when the tears started but they wouldn't stop. My hands shook and someone was laughing behind me. I quickly turned to see who it was and I was staring into the mirror again, facing myself.

My reflection stood there motionless, smiling at me. A creepy, evil smile I didn'tknow I was capable of making and it's eyes, black and monsterous.

"So you are my greatest fear, huh?" I asked the mirror almost interrogatingly.

" _You expected to see the Reaper?_ " It whispered. It was my voice but it never opened it's mouth. The voice came from inside my head.

"What are you?" I was starting to feel a little naked without my weapons.

" _I am the Oracle_ " It echoed inside my head. The eerie, invasive feeling if it being inside my head made me even more uneasy.

"Do I have a reason to be threatened by you?

" _Naturally_ "

"What are you going to do?

" _I am going to find out why you are so unique, what your role is._ "

"Stay out of my head" I didn't want another horrible, fake memory.

" _Now, where is the fun in that_?" Everything begin to change around me and rain began to pour. I was back on the rooftop of my last mission with the Crawler encounter. " _You risk your life in place of your friends for fear of being alone. You fear being rejected because of your new-found power. And you despise the possibility of becoming what you swore you would destroy._ " It took a moment to chuckle as I plunged my arm into Matt's arm just as the Red Crawler had done to me. I wanted to turn away, to pull back my arm and tend to his injury that I had caused but could not and an unwillful pleasure creeped through my veins from the act. " _A fate you would be dissapointed with in the future."_ The room changed again to the run-down church I rescued Serah from. Only this time, I held her down by her throat as I ripped open her blouse and fondled one of her breasts. The arousle from the action unwanted and rejected.

"Stop." I struggled.

" _Let's see the monster you really are."_ I was now standing over the pile if corpses of all of my new friends, Flame included, as I plunged Flametongue's scortching blade into the King's chest.

"I said stop!"

" _This blade."_ Now I was back in Dragoon Manor satring at the empty family tree, gazing at my face in the final space at the bottom as I slashed out every face on the tree.

"Stop this!"

" _This is…"_ I was standing in the armory downstairs staring wantingly at the cloak and mask if the Nightfury. " _You are…"_ I could feel it crawling around the daek space in my mind and a low growl could be hear. I turned to look at the mirror me and saw the face of a fierce and powerful Dragon that eerily remunded me of the Dragon in my visions, the one speaking to me in my head. As I spoke, so did the Dragon.

"I SAID STOP!" My voice and the Dragon's echoed throughout the room and the vision ended in an explosion of hellfire. I was back in the dark chamber of the Oracle. I stared into the mirror to see my normal reflection, thankfully. I looked down to my reflections side and saw a scared little girl around seven or eight frightened to death with her hands to her chest in an adorable, insecure way as children were. Her long black hair covering most of her pale face. Her long, white nightgown reached down past her toes.

"Are you the Oracle?" I asked. She nodded. I started to feel a little bad. "I'm sorry I frightened you." Her black eyes began to swell up with tears. She ran towards me and ran out of the mirror, straight up to me, and wrapped her arms around my waist and began crying.

"I'm sorry!" She sobbed. I quickly crouched down and hugged her as tight as I could.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." I assured her. I began to rub her back and calm her down. She pulled back enough to look me in the eyes.

"Are you back, now? Are you going to save us?" She sniffled.

"Back?" My mind then wandered back to Violet and how they explained that the Dragoons left. My mind raced as I put all the pieces together. The voice in my head, my face on the wall. I wasn't entirely sure on what to make of it all yet but one thing was certain: this little girl and all these people needed someone to look to and somehow i'm connected. They needed the Dragoons back and suddenly, being a Dragoon didn't seem so scary. "Yes, and i'm going to do the best I can to help fight back." I pulled her in tighter and picked her up and headed for the exit, leaving the mirror just as it was: a mirror.


	13. Chapter 13

The chamber opened up and we entered back into the Throne Room to see everybody waiting there patiently, almost everybody.

"Where's Scarlet?" On que Scarlet came whizzing out from behind Serah and hovered in front of my face as she poked my nose. I laughed at her usual playful behavior. "There you are." I winked. "Wow, you look different. Is it your hair?" She made the cutest frowny face I have ever seen and her cheeks puffed out as she shook her head. "Wearing a new look?" She crossed her arms and glared at me. "Oh I know! Your a Pixie again!" I mock realized as I snapped my fingers. She spun around my head before bopping me on the forehead.

"Well look who finally came out of her shell!" The King exclaimed, kneeling down next to me so as not to intimidate the small girl hugging my leg. She only smiled at the gentle King but continued to attempt to hide behind me. Scarlet immediately flew down to introduce herself. Scarlet loves children.

"This is Mary. She is the Oracle of the Mirror." After my little introduction I expected everyone to be more afraid of her than she is of them. That wasn't the case.

"Well hi there." Serah exclaimed.

"Oh she's so cute!" Vi yelled with excitement. She was probably another Scarlet when it comes to children. Lance walked and only peered curiously at the small child.

"She's a little pipsqueek ain't she?" Vi turned and quickly slapped Lance real good on the arm. " Ow, I wasn't trying to be mean!" Mary let out a small giggle but I could tell with all the extra attention I was soon going to lose circulation in my leg. I chuckled and placed a hand on her head and she looked up and smiled.

"What do you think you are doing!?" We all turned and found a rather angry Flame heading right for us. Before I could say anything he yanked Mary off my leg and began to scold her. "You are not to leave your mirror! What are you doing out here?"

"Flame-" The King tried to speak up and calm him but I cut him off. I reached over and grabbed Flame by his collar and shoved him into the nearest pillar.

"What the hell is your problem?! You lay one finger on her again and I'll cut it off. Do we have an understanding?!" He looked me in the eyes before nodding. I released his collar and he adjusted himself before stepping away.

"She is your problem then." And then he was gone. I turned to see if Mary was alright and was immediately attacked by a sobbing little girl wrapping herself around my waste. I picked her up and squeezed her as tight as I could.

"Shh, it's alright. You're coming to stay with me now. If," I turned to look at the King, "that's okay with you, your Majesty."

"I don't see why not. For some time now the Demons have been using the Oracle to control people by inducing fear in their hearts, and besides, I know she will be in good hands." His Majesty finished with a wink. "Though I don't understand why she chose you." He inquired.

I pondered answering him for a moment, not knowing if he would believe me or not. I guess to anybody it would sound too good to be true. Before I could speak up Mary grabbed my hand and held it up, palm down, and made a cute growl. The pentagram on my hand appeared and everybody understood. "I guess that's why." I said.

"The Council needs to hear about this." Serah told the King. Vi seemed speechless, almost skeptical. Lance only looked pleased. Mary hugged my leg again and Scarlet traced the pattern on my hand before flying around Mary pretending to be a Dragon. Mary giggled as she chased Scarlet around the group.

"I agree." The King said. "And don't worry Michael, I will tell the council about your friend."

"Thank you, your Highness." I bowed and we exited the chamber back out into the courtyard as the King went to gather the Council. Upon exiting we found Flame waiting for us. He seemed rather glad to see us for some reason, like I didn't threaten to rip him apart.

"What do you want, our-fearless-class-leader?" Lance spoke up.

"Silence you! I'm here for the newbie." He said, almost threateningly.

"OH YEAH?" I stepped forward, looking more menacing than I meant to.

"Calm down, I have come with an invitation. Our entire class would like to invite you to party we are throwing at one of the hottest spots in town. You know of it don't you?"

I thought back to my fight with Lucian. "Yeah, I know it. Why would I go to one of your parties. I don't necessarily hang out with people on my shit-list." This seemed to physically irritate him as his eye twitched and a vein protruded from his head.

"Consider it your 'initiation' into the guild." He said with a half-assed smile on his face. He clearly didn't want to see me there which completely changed my mind for me.

"I'll see you there, Sir Rust-a-lot." He turned with a very irked look on his face.

"Yes, I hope you do." And with that he left.

"Don't judge him, sir. He doesn't know who he's talking to." Vi said.

"Oh he'll get his- wait, sir?" I was a little put off by the sudden formalities, but it wasn't a surprise considering she viewed the Dragoons as role models.

"I-I apologize! Please forgive me if I have insulted you in any way!" She was starting to creep me out.

"No, no, it's okay. Let's just stick to Michael, okay?"

"Yes!" After a rather awkward silence we decided to head our separate ways. Everyone decided to meet back with me here after the council had decided on a gathering time. Until then I would drop off Mary at Dragoon manor and from there I would go and humor Flame at his 'Initiation' party. Though I had a strange feeling about it. If I had to describe it I would have said 'insecure'. After giving Mary a pat on the head and Scarlet gave her a little kiss on the nose that made her giggle, I went to leave when a familiar voice spoke to me in my head

" _Do not fear, hatchling, I will help guide you_." The voice was as overpowering as ever but seemed a little more welcoming this time. I decided to wait on the party and made my way to the large office below the lounge. I gazed at the family tree once more. I knelt down in front of it and cleared my head and closed my eyes. I learned this from Joe. It was one of the ways he helped train me to focus my power.

I was now in the consciousness of my mind. I gazed around at the blank space of white that began to fade into shadow. We had come to a conclusion that this was some part of my power that I hadn't accessed yet, though all attempts to tap into it had been rejected by some unknown force. It was as if my own self had denied me access. I gazed into the shadow until the familiar red, flaming eyes appeared before me and the voice spoke again.

" _You desire to speak to me?_ " It inquired. It seemed to have seen this coming.

""Why do you not reveal yourself? Who are you?" A question I have wanted answered for some time now.

" _You expect to see your father?_ " It was stalling.

"I never knew him."

" _He would have been proud_."

"So who are you? Is that supposed to be your place on the tree? Am I truly the last Dragoon?" I didn't really want to know the answer but I had already committed.

" _No."_ An awkward sense of relief began to trickle into my chest before He finished. " _Not yet."_ The ground began to shake, like a giant quaking the earth with every step. Whatever He or It was was coming closer and I wasn't sure I was ready. My hands began to tremble but I shook the worry away and clenched them tighter.

I imagined I would see a large Dragon towering over me in seconds but instead I was met by a man a little taller than me and I was surprised to see the familiar face of Satan himself. The legendary Lord of Dragons and head of the Dragoon family. He wore red, silk shirt with gold stitching around the cuff of the sleeves and a scaly metal pauldron on his left shoulder with a red, leather cape flowing from beneath the metal. His black, leathery pants were fitted with five belts and black combat boots thudded on the ground with each step.

"You're-"

" _Yes."_

"So you-"

" _I knew your father."_ This was a lot to take in. Even more so the fact that I truly was a Dragoon. What would my friends think? Would I eventually be another Demon in Demon Control's eyes? Then again, they never tried to hurt Scarlet. If I was going to show everyone I wanted to help them I would need to get stronger into my newfound family's bloodline. That meant training.

"I can't expect to be fully trained at the Guild as a Dragoon can I?"

" _I will train you in our family's ways. But I will need something from you first._ " What could the legendary Lucifer need from me?

"And what's that?"

" _My Flametongue. The blade was originally mine. The pedestal you pulled it from was a seal to eventually be unlocked by you when you were ready, and that time has long past."_ He held out his hand and a large scale appeared in a whirlwind of fire. " _In return this will be my gift to you. When you absorb this Dragon's scale your skin will be as tough as a Dragon's_." The scale faded to embers and the Devil folded his arms. " _I have one more gift for you but it can wait until after your… 'Initiation'._ " He said before everything began to glow a blinding white. I opened my eyes and stared up at Lucifer's portrait.

I glanced to the desk as the scale he showed me appeared and landed in the center of the desk. I strode over, reached a hand out, and picked it up. I began to glow and disintegrate into ash and embers and as if it were the very air I breathed it went into my mouth and nose. I expected to be met with a hoarse coughing sensation or the inability to breathe but neither was present. I looked back at the board and shrugged as I went up to meet with Mary and Scarlet before the party.

The club was the same as I remembered it only this time it was full of people. Pyromancers for the most part. It was, I heard, a pretty popular club for the Pyromancer's Guild. The club was called Hades' and had a big, neon sign that read just that on the front. Their wasn't much of a line except for the VIP section, otherwise everyone just seemed to walk in. I approached the door and was about to step inside when a big, burly bouncer grabbed me by the shoulder and dragged me back.

"Woah there, newbie. You ain't gettin' in." He pulled up his clipboard but didn't bother to look at it. "You're not on the list." He said with a smirk on his face. Again with the 'let's pick on the new guy' bullshit. I looked over to Scarlet who smirked and nodded. I turned back to the bouncer and punched him right in the face. He fell down like a sack of potatoes and I snatched the clipboard out of the air and Scarlet handed me the pen. I scribbled on the sheet of paper and threw the board and the pen down on the now sleeping bouncer, revealing to everybody a big 'FUCK YOURSELF' across the page.

"I am now." I said smiling and Scarlet folded her arms and nodded like she was the one that decked him. We walked through the double doors and was revealed to a crowd of people on the dance floor, a rather large crowd, tables all around the room and even more on the upstairs balcony. The DJ was underneath the balcony in front of the large crowd and dancers posted up in cages hanging from the ceiling. Strobe lights and lasers flashed all over the room to the music. We made our way to an empty booth in the center towards the back. It became like a second nature to find a good vantage point to monitor entry and exit points. We were immediately met by a pretty waitress in a pretty blue cocktail dress.

"Can I get you anything?" She said with a sweet smile.

"Just an ashtray please." I gave her a wink and she hurried off to get it before getting back to other patrons. After about a minute she returned with a glass ashtray and a shot in her hand. She slipped me the ashtray before placing the shot in front of me.

"This is from the gentleman at the counter over there." We both glanced over to see Flame raising a shot glass in there air before downing it and turning to join a conversation with three other gentlemen. I turned back to the waitress and handed her the shot.

"Here you go, babe, on the house." She accepted the drink with a wink and downed it.

"Thanks, sweety. Oh, and," She pulled out a note pad and scribbled on it, "here's your receipt." She placed the paper on the table and left with noticeably more sway in her hips. As I watched her go Scarlet picked up the paper and looked at it before rolling her eyes. I chuckled before reading the digits of her phone number. I lit a cigarette, downed half of it and discarded the ashes into the glass. Scarlet poked my cheek and pointed to the man now standing in front of me.

"Can I help you?" I said, taking another hit from my smoke.

"Enjoying the party?" He was one of the gentlemen speaking with Flame earlier. "I'm here to welcome you to your initiation."

"Consider me welcomed." But I knew it wasn't that simple.

"Of course! Now," He examined his nails, clearly bored of the poor attempt of conversation, "enjoy the rest of the party." He reached his hand down and grabbed the edge of the table and with a simple twist he sent it flying up into the air. I immediately leapt up into a backwards somersault. The table landed back on the ground where it had first been and I landed on the the table ready to punch the goon in the face. I looked around the room and it was now vacant, save for the people up on the balcony who only watched in anticipation.

I hopped off the table, held a hand out to catch the ashtray, and took the smoke from the little divet. "Guess the party's over?" Scarlet shrugged and I went to take one last hit when I was assaulted by four Pyromancers all around me, pinning me in place with metal batons. Not one of the hurt whatsoever. I looked to Scarlet and shrugged. "Wow, that thing worked." That scale really did give me tough skin. I'll have to thank Lucifer for that.

"What?!" Flame, who was the one in front of me, looked at me in disbelief. I punched him square in his ass-of-a-face and he went flying across the room and his baton up in the air. I caught it and spun it in my hand as I walked forward. The three remaining goons staggered back, freaked out that they had no effect.I made it to the center of the room when one of them decided to charge me. Without looking back I sent the baton up into the air and one of the empty dancer's cages came crashing down in front of him. I made it to the DJ stand and held up a finger.

"This is my kind of party." I said, bringing my finger down on the play button resuming the rock music. I stood there, tapping my foot and bobbing my head to the beat for a moment before the other two leapt over the cage and ran for me. I put the cigarette back in between my lips and Scarlet jingled behind my head signalling an incoming attack. I ducked under it, spun around, and punched the assailant in the gut and slammed his forehead into the table. I blocked another attack from the second man and kicked his knee out followed by a roundhouse to the face sending him flying into the third man still behind the cage. The first guy finally recovered and went another swing. I grabbed his wrist and swung him around and kicked him in the face putting him flat on his back, and disarming him now leaving me with the baton.

Flame got up and began a half circle around me. "Hey, Scarlet." I said over my shoulder. She flew around in front of me and rendered a goofy salute. "Pick us out a new tune, please." She nodded and flew over to the DJ stand and cycled through his list of songs. Another metal song started to play with heavy riffs and hard bass. I smirked at Flame earning me a very irritated sneer.

"Cocky bastard!" He yelled as he ran for me. He took a swing and I blocked it and sent another back at him with the baton. He spun around it and I turned to punch him but he caught my fist. He threw me across the room into a bench that went sliding back from the impact crashing into other benches. The sliding stopped and the bench went back down on all fours with me sitting in a comfortable, relaxing position. I was getting pretty confident until my nose started to leak a little blood. I lit another cigarette and puffed it a few times.

"Eventually I will overpower you. I always do!" Flame shouted. His lackeys joined him.

"Then I guess I'll just have to knock you down a peg." I said leaning forward, taking another puff.

"As if." He muttered walking over to another bench and sent it flying at me. I huffed as I flicked the butt of my cigarette and leapt over the bench with my baton ready. Two of Flame's lackies jumped up and I swatted them away with a kick, sending them crashing into a booth. I came down to bash Flame in his stupid face but it was blocked by a massive shield that appeared in Flame's hand. The impact sent me stumbling back and he kicked me in my chest. I quickly recovered and somersaulted back onto my feet and assessed the massive wall now between us. It was a large tower shield that covered his entire body. An insignia of a burning tower on the front of it. It was gold like his armor and I was put off by how easily he was able to hoist it given its size. He then summoned a large mace with a large head the size of a bowling ball. He got into a stance placing him behind his shield and placing the mace up on the top. He began to charge me and I went to summon Flametongue but it wouldn't appear. I looked down at my hand in total confusion when my entire body got bashed by Flame's golden wall. I was sent flying into a dancer's cage and didn't stop there. The cage and I both continued to soar until we hit the wall and were sent through it.

When I finally skidded to a halt in the street, onlookers gazed in confusion and slight fear. Flame and his group stepped out of the massive hole now in the wall of the club, all of them wielding their own weapons. One had a flail, another had a large claymore, and the third had a javelin. All of them seemed to have medieval weapons from the old times as their Guardian weapons. I looked up at Flame from where I was laying down and absolutely hated the smirk on his face.

"What's the matter new guy? Having some performance issues?" I went to get up was pushed to my back to the ground by someone's foot. I turned my head and Lance had me planted to the ground. "Ha! Your boyfriend here to save you?"

"He's not his boyfriend!" Vi yelled as she came to Lance's side. Serah approached Flame and called him off.

"Alright, Flame, don't you think that's enough?" Lance stepped off me and helped me to my feet while Vi dusted off my shirt. I looked over to Serah who just finished scolding Flame and his group who scoffed as their weapons vanished and they turned and left. Scarlet came fluttering in circles around me, inspecting my condition.

"I'm alright, Scarlet." She flew up to my head and used her little hand to wipe away a little bit of blood from the corner of my lip. I blushed and I saw her turn a shade of red I haven't seen her turn for a while. She then planted herself on my shoulder with her hands in her lap and her gaze staring straight in front of her. Serah giggled while Vi buried her blushing face in Lance's shoulder her had quite the smirk on his face which only made me blush more. I quickly changed the subject.

"Any word on the council?" I asked Serah.

"They are apparently too busy at the moment to see you." Lance interjected.

"So pretty much they won't see you until the day after tomorrow." Serah said.

"Looks like you two love-birds get the day off tomorrow." Vi said, winking at Scarlet who glowed brighter as she flew over to Vi and began slamming her tiny fists into Vi's shoulder.

"Actually she's a Pixie." I said, trying to draw attention from Scarlet. She obviously was uncomfortable and that didn't sit well with me for some reason.

"Anyways, Scarlet, I made something for you." Serah said as she approached the two of us. She held out a small, red crystal. Scarlet flew over and admired the pretty gem. Scarlet picked it up with both hands and flew over to Lance and Violet who looked it over with her.

"What is that?" I asked Serah.

"It's an Ember: a crystal imbued with magical properties." She explained.

"Magical, huh? What does it do?" As soon as I finished the sentence something slammed into my side and wrapped itself around my arm tightly. The force was pretty large but I didn't budge. I looked over and raised my arm up to find a human-sized Scarlet hanging from my arm, her eyes glistening with joy and a smile that was sweet and innocent.

"It lets her transform as she pleases." Serah said, grinning at the adorable girl on my arm. I smiled at her as I poked the tip of her nose as she always did to me. She blushed a bright red and fell to the floor. She got up immediately and clung to my shirt, attempting to hide her face in my shoulder.

"So what are we supposed to do for a whole day?" I asked Serah.

"I'm sure you'll find something to do." Serah said nonchalantly, "In the meantime we have other matters we must attend to. Do try to get some sleep tonight." She said before the three of them wandered off into town off towards the Palace. I didn't know if there would be anything at all we could do tomorrow but I had an idea to pass the time. I still was very unsure of how I came to be the one and only heir to quite a powerful Demon family. I'm sure that office might have documents I could look into.

"Come on Scarlet, let's get back. I'm sure Mary is waiting on us." We turned down the street and made our way back home for the night.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Envoy

After the small haze-fest I endured from Flame and his goons yesterday the rest of the night went smoother than the past few nights I've spent here. I still had a whole day before I could speak to the Council and until that was done I couldn't go looking for my long lost teammate, Matt.

So for the past five hours I have spent my time in, what I can only assume, was Satan's office reviewing old books and learning what I could about my family's heritage and history. It's kind of boring though, not having to worry about everything and everyone. Except of course the entire five hours I've been down here have been spent in complete and constant supervision of Scarlet. I don't even think I have seen her blink once. A large smile spread across her face and her eyes were so wide they looked like something out of a cartoon. It was the most adorable thing I had ever seen, for the first hour.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked her. She finally blinked and seemed surprised I even noticed she was there.

"Oh, um, no. I-is there anything I can do?" She asked me a little hesitantly. I leaned back in my seat and stretched.

"No, that's alright. I think I'm done here anyway." I told her.

"What were you looking for?" She asked, her head cocking to one side quizzically.

"I was going over my supposed family's records and history, trying to find out where I tie into all of this."

"Have you tried talking to Lucifer about it?" She was the only other person who knew I could speak to Him. As bizarre as my encounters go with the Great One she seemed to take everything in pretty smoothly.

"I've tried but he isn't responding, which is really irritating because He has some explaining to do!" I yelled looking up at his portrait on the wall.

"Still can't summon your weapon?" She seemed a little worried that it was troubling me so and the expression on her face only magnified her feelings.

"No, and it doesn't make any sense. Why all of a sudden, why now?" I ran my hands through my hair as if it would alleviate my frustration.

"Out of smokes?" Lance's sudden intrusion into our conversation startled both Scarlet and I. Almost immediately after, an excited Violet threw herself at Scarlet, nearly knocking her off her feet. They sure got pretty close real fast.

"What are you two doing here? You should be out seeing the city, taking in the sights!" She exclaimed very enthusiastically.

"I've got too many things to worry about to go sightseeing." I told her with a stern look on my face.

"Well whatever it is you're looking for in these books, I'm sure it can wait." Serah took this opportunity out from behind Lance and entered the conversation.

"What could be more important than this war we are fighting?" I inquired, leaning forward and placing my elbows up on the desk.

"I fail to see how family records has anything to do with the war." I closed the book I was previously studying and got up. I walked around to the front of the desk and leaned against it with my arms folded.

"What did you have in mind?" I asked her, a little irritated that she was being very persistent.

"I'll show you." Serah led us out to the back courtyard of the manor and brought us to the fence, giving us quite the view of the city below.

"What are we doing out here?" I jabbed.

"Wait for it." Serah chimed back. I could sense the anticipation in her voice. I swear, if something jumps out at me I'm going to punch her in the throat. A few more seconds passed and we heard a loud bang off in the distance before a large, fiery explosion of lights erupted in the sky signaling the music that followed.

"What is that?" Scarlet asked. Her eyes were filled with amusement as she watched the small lights fade away. I felt a small tugging at my pants and I looked down to find Mary gazing up at me expectantly. I hoisted her onto my shoulders so she could see the fireworks as well.

"It's a festival! We have one every year!" Vi exclaimed. She seemed very thrilled Scarlet even asked the question.

"What's it for?" I asked, trying not to seem impressed. Lance stepped up beside me to answer that one.

"We do it to give thanks to the Gods and for all they've done for us." Now Mary was ruffling my hair around and twirling it in her fingers. It made me laugh and that caused Lance to turn to me looking offended until he noticed Mary. He gave her a pat on the head before going back to stand by Serah.

"We are having it early this year due to what happened, and since you got the wheels turning and practically saved the whole Realm, I thought you should go." I took Mary down from my shoulders who then ran and hugged Scarlet's leg. I thought about the offer and turned to see Scarlet and Mary staring at me with the same irritated look plastered on both their faces. They knew what I was thinking.

"Alright, we'll go, but you're going to stay up with me and help sort through those books when we get back!" I told Scarlet who ignored everything I said except the 'we'll go' part and proceeded to run inside with Mary and Violet to find something to wear. Did they have other clothes to wear? I haven't even been to the master bedroom yet.

"Well, what are you standing out here for? Go find something better to wear!" Serah shoved.

"What's wrong with this?" I gestured to the plain gray t-shirt and faded jeans Lance had leant me. The only response I got was a chuckle from Lance and the same irritated look from Serah. I guess it's time to check out the master bedroom.

I followed everybody back inside where we split up. Scarlet and the girls went to get her ready leaving Lance and I to do the same. It quickly turned into just me when Lance laid down on one of the couches in the lounge.

I made my way upstairs and stood in front of the double doors at the top, a long hallway stretching to either side of me. I could hear the girls talking excitedly at the end of the hall to my right. They seem to be having fun. I thought about how excited Scarlet was to go down there and join in on the fun. Seeing the smile on her face made me feel warm inside and I wanted her to have fun, so I might as well not rain on her parade.

I reached out to turn the handles before the doors swung open by themselves. At this point I wasn't surprised but I was cautious when I entered still. I took two steps into the room and felt a cool breeze blow past me. The doors behind me closed, and the presence I felt in the room was all too familiar. I turned towards the back of the room and Satan walked out from behind the large bedpost.

"Where have you been?" I asked him cautiously, fearing that if my tone alone would seal my fate in his presence.

"I had some matters to attend to." He said dryly. After a short moment I responded.

"What are you doing now? Is there something you need?" I hope it's not bad.

"No, but there is something you need from me. I told you Flametongue did not belong to you." Whilst reminding me he summoned the blade in a flash of red. It looked different this time. The blade was straighter and ended with a flat tip with a small tooth in the front. The handguard was no longer red fur but a jagged, curved hilt hanging down like a scimitar. It looked like ivory but was black. A horn maybe? "You will get your blade soon, once you have come to terms with your heritage."

"I have come to terms with it. These people need me; they need a Dragoon-"

"You have accepted nothing!" His booming voice sent my gaze to the ground. My body started to tremble. "These people have accepted you but you can't hide your fear from me! If you are not careful, your indifference will bring ruin to both you and your friends. Once you learn to accept who you are, only then can you protect the ones you love." I raised my head and looked him in his eyes.

"I would do anything for them." I paused for a moment before continuing. "Even if it means becoming a Demon. Whether I like it or not, I have a duty now to them and to this war." Lucifer pondered this for a moment. He looked me over, and nodded.

"For centuries the Dragoons have acted as Royal Protectors of this Realm. On festivals like these, the Royals from each land come together here to join in on the festivities. You will be escorting the Queen of the Water Realm. See that you look and act your best in her presence as her envoy." With that he was gone as quick as he came and a door slid open behind me. The closet opened up to an elegant yet sturdy leather vest with one black metal pauldron formed to look like scales. Below the pauldron hung a black silk sleeve. It came with a pair of black cargo pants to match with black shin boots with red laces. The pants tucked into the boots. This will be your new uniform from now on. The voice came from the back of my head again. I have a dress code now? Great.

I changed over and looked myself over in the mirror to make sure there wasn't anything I missed. I decided I didn't like the sleeve so I unclipped it from the uniform and left it in the room before exiting. I walked out to find everyone approaching the doors.

"Very spiffy." Serah commented. I got a nod of appreciation from Lance and and excited 'ooooh' from Vi. But I couldn't see Scarlet.

"Yeah, I guess. Where's Scarlet hiding?" Vi spoke up but seemed iffy about it.

"Oh she's… having second thoughts?" She winced.

"What? After all that talk about going? She's got some explaining to do." I walked past the trio but Vi spoke up again trying to correct herself.

"NO! I mean, she's not ready yet!" But I was already turning the corner. If I hadn't stopped right then I would have ran into her. Scarlet was wearing a red dress but with black rose petals swirling around it. The bottom of the dress was flayed a bit that showed the slightest hint of her skin. When she moved it seemed like the petals of the dress itself would move like they were flowing in the wind. She walked down the hallway with haste but when she spotted me she stopped and added a little more sway to her hips when she walked.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." She said shyly.

"No, don't worry about it." I said casually. She was beautiful. She looked as though the dress knew exactly what she was meant to wear.

"You look…" I had to collect myself before continuing. "Beautiful." No other word could describe it. Compared to her, I felt under dressed.

"Thank you, Michael. You look very handsome as well." It was the first time hearing my name from her sweet, delicate voice. My heart almost burst out of my chest. It didn't help that she was blushing almost the exact color of her dress, making her look so much cuter. I didn't even notice Serah come up beside me.

"I haven't seen that uniform in a long time." She seemed to reminisce in thought as she looked me over. "It suits you." She said after her moment of silence.

"Let's go! I'm so excited!" Vi said clearly growing impatient from our chit chat.

"Alright then, is everybody ready? Where's Mary?" I asked. She was the only one I hadn't seen yet. She immediately walked out from behind Scarlet wearing a plain white mask and a black lace dress. "What's with the mask?" I asked her, crouching down to her level.

"Oh! I almost forgot. It's a masquerade." Serah said pulling out masks for everybody. She handed Scarlet an elegant red mask to match her dress, Vi got a steel colored mask with one eye socket, and Lance put on a black mask with a red streak and two fang-like features on the bottom.

"Do I have to wear a mask?" I asked.

"Don't you have one already?" Serah said confused. I hadn't forgotten the erie mask I had found in the armory of Dragoon Manor. I just thought it better suited for combat. Rather than add to the festivities, it would probably frighten people though, as I understand it, Dragoons were technically feared.

"It's not exactly enjoyable to look at." I grimaced. Serah pondered this before grimacing herself.

"It's going to have to do. I thought you would be fine with it. I'm sorry." She said.

"It's not me that I thought would be okay with it." I said referencing the rest of the people who would be at the festival. Serah just shrugged as Vi tried very hard for me to hurriedly fetch the eerie mask so we could get a move on. When I did so she was the first one out the door.

We arrived just in time to join what seemed like every person fit and able to attend the festival. Tents and stands decorated every street and I could smell every meat vendor that was cooking. Vi was busy attempting to stuff a whole sweet bun in her mouth while Lance, only to play along, did the same to show her how silly she looked. She only laughed in response. Serah was observing the many Crystal vendors we could stop at were it both jewelry or magical. I had to stop Scarlet several times from running off and playing with every group of children who crossed our path. I would have been totally fine with it had it not been so crowded and I didn't want to lose her in the commotion, the same went for Mary. Though I couldn't blame her for it seeing as the Demons kept her locked up and isolated. This also got me hoping I didn't see Flame anywhere during the festival; for his sake. My thoughts of the armor-clad asshole was distraction enough for Scarlet to take Mary by the hand and retreat into the crowd to play with the children who ran around all the stalls in a game of tag.

"Let them go," Serah said, "they came to have fun so let them. We can find them later." She urged me to remain calm as my 'partner-in-crime' returned to her original pixie form and proceeded to tap every child in the group's nose tagging all of them at once, not understanding the rules of tag.

As we proceeded to roam the many streets of town enjoying the games and food I noticed the awkward glances I received from some of the people. Some skeptical and some in awe, they were recognizing my vestments and the unit they belonged to. It's time to meet them. Lucifer's voice said in my head. To the docks. You will know them when you see them. Your appearance will be suffice enough to grant you passage. I've taken escort missions before in the Human World but this one made me rather nervous. Now I have the renown of a very well known family to uphold. It was different. And a Queen of all people!

I asked Serah for the directions to the docks and she verbally guided me in the right direction. With Scarlet and Mary both now lost in the crowd and Lance trying to stop Violet from putting every sweet she could find in her mouth I left the group in Serah's hands and made my way for the docks.

I arrived in a matter of twenty minutes. Surprisingly the docks were not as empty as I had thought, or hoped. What I could assume was this World's paparazzi were crowding the docks waiting to get what news they could of the Realm's visitors. Sure enough from what Satan had said earlier, I spotted the Queen's vessel almost immediately; the large galleon was as elegant as it was massive. It had white sails that donned a symbol of a crescent moon on an ocean's horizon with iridescent blue ribbon at the end of every sail and the tip of every mast and the crow's nest was decorated with blue and purple paper lanterns. The ship's figurehead portrayed a loving siren cradling a wolf pup. And the ship was surrounded by paparazzi.

As I approached the large crowd and prepared to muscle my way through the nosy lot instead they all turned and became silent. Upon my approach the crowd separated and I walked through the crowd like a hot knife through butter. Not a single word was said as everyone's eyes were on me. This caused a sense of pride in my uniform as I straightened my back and puffed out my chest. When I reached the end of the crowd there stood a group of men and one woman creating a wall on the gangplank. The five men stood guard while the woman stood behind them surveying the area, clearly the commander of the group.

The Queensguard wore matching garments; vests with tightknit ,fishnet shirts underneath and dark combat utilities. Their boots suited for combat in any terrain. The female commander did not wear matching garments of her subordinates. She was outfitted with a dark leather jacket with the same crest as was on the ship in blue on her back and her pants were dark blue with only one long leg and one short, a fishnet stocking covering the exposed leg. Her tall heel boots thudded against the gangplank as she paced back and forth, waiting. All of them wore the same mask. A silver wolf's head covering their faces from the tip of the nose and up. The grey fur on top swept back to cover the back of their necks.

I approached the group and one of the males on the far right got low into a stance and readied his blade in caution.

"Stop! He is the King's envoy for the Her Majesty! Stand down" The female commander barked. She was fierce like the wolves they praised. The soldier immediately went back into his original position and the group separated to let me pass. I walked up the gangplank passed the female commander who stood at attention as I walked on deck. Once onboard the vessel their line formed again.

I walked to the center of the deck and faced left where I stood in front of the doors to the Queen's quarters. Two more guards stood waiting for my approach. Okay Mike, you're only an envoy for the Queen escorting her around the festival, it's no big deal. Remember: Official. I walked towards the double doors and each guard took hold of a handle and swung them inboard. I entered the dark room as official and proper as I could and surveyed the room. A lone woman, a little taller than I, stood at a window looking out to the crowd outside awaiting her appearance.

The Queen stood as elegant as I could imagine and together in front of her in a queenly manner. Her dress was ravishing and old-timey with a crinoline and corset. The dress was decorated with blue frills and long beautiful ribbons of blue and white. Her hair up in pigtails and flowed down her shoulders like waterfalls. Her mask was also a wolf but seemed to stand out from the rest, Like that of a mother wolf. As I entered she turned to face me and smiled with such grace it warmed my heart.

"We have been expecting you." Her smile warmed my heart but her voice had melted it. I hurried to find a response.

"I apologize if I am late, Your Grace. I came as quickly as I was instructed." I bowed. She stepped towards me and curtsied.

"Not at all, hatchling. In fact, We had feared all of the Dragoons had been slaughtered as the rumors had told." Her expression turned to both worry and joy as she looked me up and down.

"As you can see, Your Majesty, they have not though I am sorry to say, I am the last." I hung my head wishing that there were still others better than me who could have been the Queen's envoy for I felt did not feel worthy to even be in her presence. She glided to me and with her gentle hands raised my head to face her and as if she was looking into my soul, smiled even brighter.

"One is better than none, hatchling. One day the darkness will threaten to consume us all, and you will be our candle in the dark." She removed my mask and slowly removed hers and stared into my eyes. Tears welled up, ready to fall, but I couldn't understand why. I didn't know my family but I mourned their loss. "Those eyes have seen a lot of darkness and are troubled by your inheritance. Trust in yourself, and you will find your inner strength and the truth you search long and hard for. Never waver in the face of danger. A handsome young man such as yourself must be very strong for us all." She placed my mask in my hands and I wore it once more.

"Yes, Your Grace." I turned to face the doors and she took my arm as I escorted her outside onto the deck and down the gangplank. We reached the bottom where the guards stood at attention and the Queen walked to the one who confronted me earlier and curtsied.

"That was an excellent show of force, little wolf. We are very proud." The soldier cut his salute and bowed to his Queen. We continued down and past the crowd and her guards followed close behind.


End file.
